Human Cyborg Relations
by MsLanna
Summary: Star Wars and Chobits crossover. Chii in the Star Wars universe, and she gets stuck with Kyp of all people. Currently: Fighting, cooking and saving wild life.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Human Cyborg Relations  
**Author:** MsLanna  
**Timeframe:** pre-NJO  
**Characters:** Kyp, Chii, canon cast  
**Genre**: crossover, silly humour

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"Stop following me around."

"Chii?"

" … and stop saying that!"

"Chi."

"Now that's really enough, if you don't -" He had turned and promptly the girl with the strange ears bumped into him.

"Chii!"

"You can stop walking before you run into people, you know." He took her by the shoulders and set her down an arms length away.

"Chii!" The girl mirrored his motions.

"If you insist," he sighed. "Just get lost, aright?"

"Chi," the girl nodded.

Relieved, Kyp Durron took up his way back to his ship again. It was no good to get Skywalker annoyed again.

Valiantly, Chii followed the Jedi, imitating his walk perfectly.

Kyp turned around again. "Didn't you say you were leaving me alone?"

This time, Chii had learned to stop before bumping into him. The few millimetres of space she left, did not count for much, though.

"Chii?" She cocked her head slightly.

"No, not 'chii', 'goodbye." Frustration rang in Kyp's tone as he took a step back. Then it hit him, that, even though she was standing so close to him, he had not felt her breath, when she had spoken. He took her chin and turned her face up to his.

"Say something."

"Chii?" Her expression was slightly hopeful.

Still, no breath. Kyp reached out with the force, but her presence was undeniable. This was most obscure.

While he was musing, the girl used the time to take his chin in turn. True to his actions, she lifted it upwards. "Chi?"

Shaking her hand of, the Jedi decided to try again. "Where do you come from? That way?" He pointed to his left.

"Chii!" she girl nodded, pointing, too.

But Kyp had become careful. "Or that way?" he asked, pointing into the other direction.

"Chii," she nodded happily.

"This is useless, you don't understand a word I say." He buried his face in his hand.

"Chii-ii-ii," she mimicked his voice and mirrored his gesture.

"I am a Jedi, I have no time for this," Kyp sighed. "So here's my last offer-"

"Je-di?"

The young man stared. "Yes, I am a Jedi, and I am on my way back to the temple. YOu must go home."

"Je-di," she repeated, more certain.

"So, I'll go to my ship now, and you will stay right here," he pointed to the ground.

The girl's eyes followed his finger with interested. Then she pointed to the same spot. "Chi."

"Exactly, you stay here, and I go to my ship." He turned and walked off again. But only a few steps later, he realized the girl was still following him. He began to doubt, he could stop her any way short of tying her in place.

With a sigh he faced her again. "If I get into trouble for this," he said pointing his finger at her, "Remember that it is all your fault, okay?"

The girl took his extended finger and examined it.

"Okay, so you can come along," Kyp admitted beat.

"Chii!!" She hugged him exuberantly.

"Don't get all excited," he grumbled. _Whatever Master Skywalker will have to say about this, _he added silently.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyp Durron was late again. Master Skywalker had explicitly told the young man to be in time, if only once, but again, Durron had somehow managed to get delayed. The council had already dispensed again, without waiting to hear what news the Jedi might have found. It was not the end of the galaxy, Luke mused, but he had hoped that a responsibility like reporting to the council might finally teach Kyp punctuality. In vain, as it seemed.

The faint whining of a landing vessel announced the return of the wayward Jedi, and Luke wondered how to approach the subject best without riling up Kyp immediately.

Finally, the young Jedi entered the hall, but to Luke's amazement, he did not come alone. A young girl, maybe sixteen was following him closely. Her long blonde hair enfolded her like a cloak, and her ears were - strange.

"Master Skywalker," Kyp greeted him. "I am sorry for being late, but," he shrugged helpless and pointed at the girl.

Chii immediately too the chance to take hold of his pointing thumb.

"I see," Luke said, not sure what to make of the girl. "Who is she?"

"Frigged if I know," the young Jedi replied. "She just started following me and I couldn't shake her. She- ouch!"

Chii had twisted Kyp's thumb in a direction it was not supposed to go and the young man jerked around. "Chi?"

"That hurt," he complained. "Be more careful, will you?"

Guiltily, the girl let go of his hand, land looked at her feet.

"I thought, it would be okay to bring her here and sot things at the Jedi temple."

"Je-di," she repeated, pointing at Kyp. "Jedi."

"Yes, I'm a Jedi," he replied distractedly, trying to wave her off.

"So she can speak?" Luke asked.

"Not much. 'chi' and 'jedi' seem to be all she says." Kyp sighed.

"Jedi," Chii repeated, pointing at Kyp.

"Maybe she is attached to the Jedi in some way?" Luke wondered. He turned to face the mysterious girl. "I am a Jedi, too," he tried to speak slow and clear.

To his amazement, Chii shook her head vigorously. "Jedi!" she said, pointing at Kyp. "Jedi."

"Look," the denoted tried to explain. "I am a Jedi, and so is Master Skywalker. Understood?"

"Jedi?" her eyes shone with uncertainty, while she pointed at him.

"Yes, I am a Jedi. And Master Skywalker," he took her hand and pointed it at Luke, "Is a Jedi, too."

As soon as he let go of her, the girl pointed back to him. "Jedi?"

"I think," Luke interrupted, "she want to know your name. "Have you not introduced yourself?"

Kyp almost blushed. He had indeed forgotten about that. "I am Kyp, Kyp Durron," he said pointing at himself. "Kyp."

"Kyp?" The girl seemed to process the new information slowly. "Kyp, Jedi?"

"Yes," he nodded vigorously. "I am Kyp, a Jedi."

"Kyp Jedi," the girl confirmed, then pointed to Luke again. "Jedi?"

"Yes, I am a Jedi, too," Luke answered. My name is Luke." He pointed at himself. "Jedi Luke."

"Luuke," the girl drew his middle vowel out. "Luke Jedi."

"I think she is just slow on the uptake," Luke said with a lopsided grin, sorely tempted to ruffle the girl's hair. "What is her name?"

Kyp shrugged. "She didn't tell. What is your name?" he added, turning to the girl.

"Chii?" She looked at him questioningly.

"I got you now!" Kyp's eyes shone with mischief. "Tell me your name, girl!"

"Chii?" she repeated.

"Ha! Chii it shall be. There, you got that onto you yourself." The Jedi seemed a little more smug than appropriate for one of his calling. Crossing the arms in front of his chest he looked at Luke challengingly. "Any other questions?"

Luke shook his head, puzzled. "I think she needs to learn. But you will have to teach her, since she seems rather attached to you." An amused smile crept over the Jedi Master's face. This might be a good lesson for the reckless young man. "Of course, you can come to me whenever you need help."

He turned and smiled at Chii, bowing curtly. "Welcome on Yavin, Chii. I hope your stay will be educational. For all of us."

Chii answered with a small bow of her own. "Chi."

"I think teaching by example will work best here." Luke's amusement showed in his tone.

Kyp reacted immediately by looking away exasperated. "She won't stay that long, you'll see."


	3. Chapter 3

_First things first_, Kyp thought while he dragged the strange girl along to the Healer's ward. If she had no breath, and was still alive, it was better to have Cilghal have a look at her. Of course, Chii would have followed him anyway, but he was about to loose his temper with the stubborn girl. So, dragging her along at her wrist was probably the better solution.

Fortunately, Cilghal was just where she was needed. Her towering head loomed over a display on which she studies endless columns of numbers. She called it medical research, but sometimes Kyp suspected, the Mon Calamari used the columns just as screensaver while she stared into nothingness.

"Cil, I need your help," he announced without a greeting. "Could you do a quick check-up on Chii?"

The Mon Calamari turned around to face the two arrivals. "Master Skywalker was not pleased with your absence during the meeting," she said gravely. Her eyes swivelled to Chii. "What is with her?"

"I don't know," Kyp shrugged, leading Chii toward Cilghal. "But when she speaks, there is no breath. I watched her a while and there is no sign of breathing at all. Still she seems pretty much alive, and her presence is unmistakeable in the Force."

The healer looked Chii up and down. "That does sound strange, indeed. Her name is Chii?"

"Chii." The girl answered immediately, bowing curtly. "Welcome on Yavin."

Cilghal looked to Kyp. "Where did she get that?"

"Um, I think she is imitating Master Skywalker. He welcomed her with those words." He scratched his head, brushing his bangs out of his face. "She seems to be rather - slow on the uptake."

"Welcome on Yavin, Chii." Cilghal returned the greeting. "I am Cilghal, Jedi Healer and-"

"Shigah, Jedi?" Chii interrupted her.

Kyp rolled his eyes. _Not again_, he thought.

"Yes, Cilghal," he made sure to pronounce the name clearly, "is a Jedi, too, Chii. She is our healer and will check on you. Just do as she says, okay?"

"Cilghal Jedi," the girl repeated, nodding to herself. "Luuke Jedi, Kyp Jedi." She looked at the black haired man. "Chii, Jedi?"

"No, certainly not." He replied resolutely. "Chii is not Jedi. Chii is-" he hesitated, "Chii is Chii. Now let Cilghal do her examination. Please?" He added when he saw the stubborn look return to Chii's face.

"Chii, examination," she replied to his relief, and turned back to Cilghal.

"You have a weird choice in women, Durron," the healer commented dryly on the exchange. "Please sit down over there, Chii," the Mon Calamari instructed, pointing at the examination table.

Chii did without delay, dangling her legs, while she watched Cilghal getting her instruments ready.

"I will scan you first, understand?" the Mon Calamari asked Chii, showing her the scanner.

"Chi," the girl nodded, eyeing the scanner with interest while the healer moved it up and down.

"Amazing, the readout show no sign of life at all. None of the know parameters apply." Cilghal turned to Kyp. "Where did you find her?"

"On Tynna, but I have not seen any others like her." Kyp leaned against the wall thinking.

"I would like to draw some blood, or according fluid, but I don't know where to put the needle," Cilghal went on. "I'll try reflexes and her lungs first. If you could turn around, while she is out of her dress."

Obediently, Kyp turned his back. "I'd like to see how you get her to take it off, though. I rather enjoy a good show."

Cilghal ignored him and helped Chii stand up. "Please take off the dress so I can auscultate you back and chest." She accompanied her words with an imitation of pulling a dress over her head.

Chii cocked her head, mirroring the movement. She glanced at Kyp uncertainly, but the Jedi still stood with his back to her.

"Chii?"

"One more time," Cilghal said, and when Chii lowered her hands again, the healer firmly put the hem of her dress into them.

It took Chii some time to get the dress over her head, and when she lowered her arms, the sleeves were still stuck at her wrists.

Cilghal ignored it an took the auscultator. "This might be cold, please inhale and exhale, when I ask you to."

"Chi."

It took Cilghal only seconds to realize that, though Chii did indeed breathe in and out, the air was going nowhere. Also, the girl did not breathe at all, when not told to. There was no discernible pulse either, the flesh where the aorta should beat was as still as the rest. After getting the dress back over Chii's head, Cilghal tried the reflexes, but unsurprisingly, there were none.

"I don't know who you have found here, Kyp," she said finally, "but she is in no way human but her looks. And you can turn again."

The young man did so, seeing Chii in her final struggles with the frills lacing her collar. "What do you suggest, Cil?"

"Keep an eye on her. See if she eats or sleeps. And try to fins out who she is and where from." Cilghal looked from Kyp to Chii and back. "And teach her how to say 'hello' proper."

Kyp rolled his eyes. "So I am responsible for everything now. Just great."

"Would you rather something happened to her?"

Kyp regarded the girl for a while. "You know, as long as it was not my fault, and she was not aroud-" he caught the healer's withering look. "No, of course not. But you don't need 'hello' to survive. I don't think so."

Cilghal gave him the Mon Calamari's equivalent of a smirk. "You think so? Fine. Find out then."


	4. Chapter 4

Kyp Durron was trying hard not to sulk in his quarters. Chii had followed him like a puppy, and he wondered if she would do so all the time. Meaning, really _all_ the time. That might become inconvenient. Cilghal had not been a big help, but if she couldn't find anything, that was not her fault. She was one of the best healers he knew and if she was stumped, there was nothing to be found.

He was just trying to remember the exact time Chii had turned up, hoping to find a clue as to where she came from, when his comm beeped.

"Yep," he said, accepting the call.

"Where are you messenger boy?" Ganner Rhysode asked, not even waiting until the screen lit up. "Don't tell me Skywalker gave you such a talk that you forgot about our training session?" he teased. "That is not like our gentle Grandmaster at all."

_Gentle Grandmaster_, Kyp thought disgruntled. _I bet he's laughing up his sleeve about me being stuck with that one_. He glanced a Chii. The girl had settled down in a corner, seemingly content to watch him. Which was very well on the one hand, and very unnerving on the other. Kyp sighed.

"Not Skywalker, but I'm on my way. Just don't run away."

"And let easy victory slip away," Ganner laughed. "Not in your wildest dreams, Durron."

The comm winked off and Kyp got up. Training with Ganner was fun and he had no intention of missing that. Even if it meant another confrontation with Chii.

"I'll got training now," he told the girl on the way to the door.

"Kyp, training?"

"Yes, you got it," Kyp was too tired from her continued questions to be exasperated. "I'm going to train now. And somehow I get the feeling I won't go alone."

"Chii?" she asked, as she fell into step beside him.

"Yeah, just what I thought."

It was unlike Kyp to brood, but he could not keep his thoughts from circling around a way to get Chii back to her former home. She was probably missed, maybe there was somebody who really cared for this annoying girl, and it was his duty to return her. Better sooner than later.

Ganner waited for him in the gym, glancing curiously at Chii when she entered after Kyp. "You brought reinforcements?" he joked. "Afraid to face my amazing fighting skills on your own?"

"I'll explain later, Ganner," Kyp almost sighed. "Right now, let it suffice that I can't shake her. Just pretend she's not there, right?"

Ganner raised a brow. "Does that mean I don't get introduced to your cute friend? What happened to your manners, Durron? Lost them in the laundry _again_?"

Kyp glared at his friend. "You asked for it. Chii that is my friend Ganner Rhysode, Ganner, this is Chii."

"Chii?" the girl said softly, looking at Ganner. Then she bowed suddenly. "Welcome on Yavin."

Ganner snorted. "You certainly have humour, Chii." He clapped her on the shoulder. "How did you end up with such a killjoy as Kyp?"

Chii considered his question for a moment. Then she clapped him on the shoulder, too, almost toppling the taller man over. "Chii with Jedi killjoy Kyp." It sounded rather proud.

Ganner was about to double over with laughter, when Kyp's elbow caught him in the stomach. "Not funny, pal. Better be careful what you say, she picks up things randomly."

"I'm not a killjoy, Chii," he then turned to the girl. "Don't get any frigging ideas."

"Kyp not killjoy," Chii repeated dutifully. "Chii get frigging ideas."

"You're a sweet pair," Ganner laughed. "Let's start before I exhaust myself laughing."

Grumbling Kyp began to warm up. Having Chii around was annoying enough, but that his friends should think it funny. He could not believe it, his idea of fun certainly looked different.

Chii stayed true to her nature, and copied his every move. Her long hair flew in all directions, whipping across the faces of Ganner and Kyp.

At first, Kyp tried to ignore her, as well as the suppressed snorting from Ganner. It was not his fault that this blond haired slowpoke imitated him. Gritting his teeth, he took a step away from Chii to avoid her flying hair.

When the two men unhooked their lightsabers, Chii searched for one in vain. She watched with interest as the blades extended and the Jedi took up fighting stances.

"You sure, you don't need her help?" Ganner asked, swinging his blade at Kyp's head.

Kyp blocked the strike, the blades sizzling against each other as he twisted the blades around each other, forcing Ganner's saber downwards. "Go on like that, and you'll need Cilghal's help," he shot back. With a quick step back he released Ganner's blade, pushing it down and aimed for his now unprotected middle.

"You could need it." Ganner blocked Kyp's attack with an attack of his own, launching a series of quick hits at his left side. All strikes were parried, though, so he aimed the last low at the feet.

Kyp jumped over the yellow blade easily, following it with his own and forcing it up over Ganner's head. With the sabers locked over their heads, he took a step towards his friend, his eyes sparkling wit mischief.

"Come again?" He indicated a painful contact between his knee and Ganner's crotch.

The other Jedi jumped back. "You're having a mood toady, Durron." He shook his head and shut down his lightsaber. "And you're impossible to train with when you're like this. Get back to me when you calmed down."

He grabbed a towel and turned to leave. "If you have enough of that grumpy spoilsport, just get over to me, right?" he said to Chii in passing.

"Chii?" She looked from Ganner to Kyp and back.

"Yeah, just go ahead and leave me for that stuck-up jock. See if I care." Kyp clipped his lightsaber back on. His mood was indeed less than agreeable, but Ganner was not helping at all.

"Kyp care," came the prompt answer. The girl stood up, but instead of following Ganner, she approached Kyp. "Kyp training, Chii care."

For the first time, Kyp felt the urge to ruffle the girl's hair. Slow as she might be, there was something ultimately naïve about her that seemed impossible to resist.

"Okay, Chii. In that case, we train. I am to teach you something? Teach you I will. Come." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the shelf with the trainings weapons. "Take this one," he gave Chii a saber. "I will now teach you how to use a lightsaber."

"This lightsaber, for Chii?" She looked at him questioningly.

"No," Kyp shook his head. "You will practice with this lightsaber. If you want one for yourself, you will have to build it."

"Chii build lightsaber?"

The Jedi couldn't help but laugh. "No. Chii will not build a lightsaber."

"Why?"

Kyp studied the girl in front of him, searching for an answer she could understand. "Well, not now. I will explain another time, it is all very complicated," he finally answered.

Chii nodded and seemed satisfied. "Kyp explain later."

"Very good, now pay close attention…"


	5. Chapter 5

Kyp soon had to realize that training with Chii was not that easy. She remembered every move he showed her after the first time and was able to vary it after another two or three runs. It took only an hour to teach her the basics. After that he started a slow fight with her, making sure her objective was to always block his blade with hers. There was no telling what she might do if he had told her to try and hit him. He might as well be dead already.

"When I said you should teach her, this was not really what I meant," Luke's voice broke his concentration.

Kyp turned around, lowering his lightsaber. Which had not been the wisest move. Not realizing the 'fight' was over, Chii hit it with her shimmering blue training blade.

Kyp had to jump aside quickly, as his saber swung through the place his legs had occupied seconds before. "It's over, Chii," he said, turning to the girl. "No more training now. Please, shut down the saber."

To emphasize his point, he shut down his own lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.

Luke smiled watching Chii, while she tried to attach the handle somewhere to her dress. "I can see the learning process is in full swing."

"Chii learn." The girl held out her lightsaber towards him. "Kyp teach, Chii learn. This lightsaber, Chii use for training. Lightsaber, dangerous. Chii very careful.".

With a chuckle, Luke took his own saber. "If I may?" he asked Kyp.

The young man just shrugged.

"Show me, Chii," Luke told the girl, activating his green blade.

"Chi." She ignited the blade and dropped into a defensive stance.

He swung the blade in a simple attack, and Chii blocked him very well. There was something oddly familiar about her style, though. Launching a slow series of hits, Luke watched her reactions closely. Finally, he shut down his saber and laughed.

"She's fighting exactly like you are, Kyp." He clipped his saber back to the belt, still laughing.

Chii mirrored his movements, watching him slightly unsettled. "Chii learn wrong?" she asked.

"No, you did not," Luke assured her immediately, fighting the urge to ruffle her hair. "You learnt well."

"Chii learn well from Kyp."

"I can see that." He smiled. "Form who did you learn before?

"Chii not learn before," the girl answered, cocking her head slightly. "Chii not Chii before."

"Interesting," Luke mused. "Have you tried to make sense of her yet?" he asked Kyp.

"How?" the young man wanted to know. "It's a game of luck if she answers you, or even just repeats a word. That's no basis for an inquiry. Besides I have other things to do." He tried to stick his bangs behind his ear. "Sooner or later she'll tire of this game and then I'll bring her back. I'll monitor the missing people lists, okay?"

The Jedi Master stroked his chin thoughtful. So much for the learning process. But still, an effect on Kyp was undeniable. Of course, Luke had already looked through the files of people reported missing, with special regards to Tynna and it's area. The last thing he wanted was to have his Jedi accused of abducting people.

"Do that," he said in the end. "But also consider that her patience might last longer than yours."

"No worries," Kyp retorted. "I'm a Jedi, nothing can shake my cool." He grinned.

"Of course not. Ganner told me so much already," Luke replied deadpan.

"Good, if you'll excuse me then - ." Kyp grabbed Chii by the wrist and left just slow enough not to storm away.

"Chi," the girl said surprised, trying to catch up with the young Jedi. "What mean, 'Kyp make sense of Chii?"

Kyp turned in midstride. Chii stopped just before touching him, her face turned upwards expectantly.

"It means finding out who you are, where you are from and bringing you back.." Kyp was tempted to try some force persuasion. "So, if you have anything to contribute to those matters, I would be happy if you'd do so."

"Kyp, happy?"

The young man sighed, taking a step back. "If I knew who you are and where you're from, yes, I would be happy."

Chii considered that. "Chii is Chii," she said then. "Chii come from far away. Kyp happy?" Expectation rang in her tone.

Kyp rubbed his face. "Nice try, but it didn't work."

"Kyp not happy?"

"No, Kyp not happy," he mocked her. "Kyp certainly not happy. I am-"

"Chii care."

The young man look at the blonde slowpoke standing there. She looked rather lost, her long hair tangled from exercising, her eyes nearing the size of saucers. He could tell she was sincere, but he also knew that she did not get the problem._ I can't use mind tricks just yet. I'll never live that down with the others,_ Kyp thought dejectedly.

"Listen, Chii, I have to find out where you are from and who you are. I need to know who is missing you. And until I find out, I would be happy, if you could act a little more normal. Okay?"

"Chii!" the girl nodded overjoyed. "Chii more normal, Kyp happy."

"Got it," Kyp grumbled, taking up his way again.

"Kyp?" Her tone was urgent.

He clenched his teeth, turning around again. "Yes?"

"What is 'normal'?"


	6. Chapter 6

What _is_ normal?

The question didn't let off, and Kyp wondered. There was so much that could be normal. Trandoshans ate their parents as soon as those could not fend off their offspring anymore, Wookiees spent the rest of their lives guarding somebody who saved their life, and Hiromi found something to cheer about in everything. Not that Chii seemed to be any of those , but humans were little better. Hapans treated men like second rate humans, Serosians slapped each other in the face for a greeting. A gesture of respect in their culture since the other could obviously endure the pain, but there were even subtler differences depending on where you grew up. Master Skywalker probably still winced inwardly when he ran himself a bath, squandering such an amount of water that had been more than precious when he grew up in the desert.

It was enough to drive one up the wall. And Kyp was stumped for an answer, not that he was about to admit it.

"Well," he hedged, "normal is what everybody does. Like when you meet somebody, you say 'hello', and when you go away, you say 'goodbye'. That is normal."

The girl looked at him sucking up the information. "Chii say 'hello' and 'goodbye'. Then, Chii normal, Kyp happy."

_If it was only that easy_, Kyp thought. "That's a good start," he told her. "We'll get to the rest as things come up."

"Chii," she nodded.

Now all Kyp had to do, was find out what normal was, or somebody who already knew. Ging to Master Skywalker was out of the question, and Ganner would only give Chii stupid ideas.

_Of course,_ he thought suddenly, wondering why he had not come up with that sooner. _Tionne!_

The historian of the temple was such an obvious choice. She had experience in teaching, her knowledge was extensive and she would probably like Chii for her childlike behaviour and enthusiasm that was driving Kyp crazy.

So far Kyp had had little reason to hang around the white haired Rindaoan. She was quiet, thoughtful, and neither very strong in the force, nor very interested in lightsaber fighting. Opportunities to inconspicuously linger never occurred. Kyp eyed Chii, speculating. It could actually work. There would be a lot to talk about, and nobody could go forever without eating. A sound plan.

"I will help you, and you will help me, too." He grinned.

"Chii help Kyp?" It sounded incredulous.

"Yes, indeed," the young Jedi ruffled her hair in anticipation.

Closing her eyes, Chiis smiled all over her face. "Chii happy."

Kyp regarded the girl for a moment. "Well, I am happy, too."

"Chii!" She flung her arms around him, and the suddenness of her embrace made Kyp stumble backwards. Had there not been a wall behind him, he would have ended up on the floor with Chii on top.

Which would send all the wrong signals. He pried Chii loose and put her at arms length. "Don't do that," he told her. "You could have hurt me."

"Chii hurt Kyp?" She sounded desperate.

"No, you did not, but you could have."

Chii looked at him, uncomprehending.

"See, if you just jump at people without warning, they can topple and hurt themselves as they fall," he explained. "So don't do it."

"Chii not topple people," the girl replied. "Chii be careful."

"Good, lets go to Tionne."

"Tionne, who?"

"Tionne is a friend, another Jedi," Kyp replied, starting to walk again. "You will like her, she's a really nice woman, and patient beyond belief, unlike me."

"Kyp not patient?" Chii asked incredulous.

"No." He shook his head. _Though I have shown much more patience than usually with you_, he added in his head. "And I don't have to be, I'm happy the way I am."

He could feel her hair brushing his hand as she closed up. "Kyp happy, Chii happy, too." She smiled up at him, her eyes half closed.

_If that's all it takes_, Kyp mused, _handling Chii would become much easier._ He knew exactly what made him happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Tionne was busy in the library, a huge room that was only half filled with datacards, holocrons and other documents. There was enough space left to have generations of Jedi collect knowledge.

"Hi, Tionne," Kyp greeted her, making his way though the shelves.

"Why, hello, Kyp," she replied, obviously surprised to see him. "And that is?"

"Her name is Chii," Kyp said, shoving the girl towards the librarian.

"Hello," Chii said, taking Tionne's hand and shaking it vigorously.

The surprised Rindaoan offered no resistance, while her hand was thus commandeered. "Hello Chii. How did you come here?"

"Chii with Kyp, Kyp not killjoy," Chii explained, still shaking Tionne's hand.

"You can stop shaking her hand now," Kyp whispered urgently.

Immediately, the girl let go of Tionne's hand. "Chii say 'hello.' Now Chii normal and Kyp happy." The girl beamed.

"Is that so?" Tionne laughed. Though Kyp's expression looked more like suppressed exasperation and embarrassment than happiness. "I am sure he is happy to have you around then."

Chii looked towards Kyp expectantly, and could have looked for a long time, if the Rindaoan had not cast a stern look at the young man.

"Yes, yes, of course I am."

Chii looked around estimatingly, then hugged Kyp with a calculated jump. "Chii!"

"She's cute, if not the brightest," Tionne observed, while Kyp pried the girl off again.

"Tell me about it," he replied. "This is just why I need your help." He set Chii down again, and looked at Tionne. "She needs to be taught, and you are the best teacher we have."

Tionne measured Chii. "Are you sure you don't just try to dump some work on me?" she asked raising a brow. "Master Sykwalker told me that you might show up with just that request."

"Um, ah, well, I did not mean, all the time, of course, you know," Kyp back paddled. "It's just - she follows me everywhere and I think I need a break every now and then."

"And you thought that I could just do your job then?" Tionne watched his reactions closely.

"I did think, it would be a much better idea than tie her to heater in my room, yes." Kyp fiddled with his bangs. "And then there is also girl stuff I do not want to have to explain."

Tionne laughed, shaking her head. "Incredible, Durron. But she's such an irresistible cutie. So I will do some babysitting for you."

"Thank you, Tionne, I promise not to dump her here too often."

"Oh, I will see to that, don't worry. So Chii, what do you want to learn?"

"Chii learn?" She asked, looking from Kyp to Tionne and back.

"It would make me happy," Kyp replied smugly.

"Then Chii learn. Chii be normal." She nodded happily.

"I see." Tionne turned to face Kyp. "And you almost managed to teach her, how to say 'hello', too."

Kyp fidgeted.

"Don't worry, Kyp, I'll do it. But you will have to do something for me, too."

"Whatever," he burst out unthinking.

"I will see about that later," Tionne laughed. "But there is always something to be done in the archives. I'll let you know."

"Sure," Kyp agreed. "I'll go and train with Ganner now. Our last session, well," he glanced at Chii, "some problems turned up."

"I see. Your people skills are amazing."

"Chii do something, too." The girl suddenly volunteered.

"I'm sure we'll find something," Tionne replied, before Kyp could say anything. "There must be many things you are good at."

"Chii good at learning from Kyp," the girl offered promptly.

"Now that is good to hear," Tionne said encouragingly.

"I'll be back later then," Kyp said hurriedly. "Bye."

He did not get out of the door, though, before Chii had caught up and took a firm hold of his hand. "Good bye," she said shaking it heartily.

"Goodbye, Chii," Kyp ground out. "You can stop shaking now."

Immediately, Chii stopped shaking his hand.

_I'll have to do something about that,_ Kyp mused as he left. _Maybe telling her to shake the hand only twice, though, if somebody else shook more often, that would cause only more problems. There had to be an intelligent solution for this._


	8. Chapter 8

"So what have you been teaching her?" Kyp demanded to know. "She keeps repeating the same words over and over, like a broken recording."

Tionne did not seem impressed the least. On the screen her white hair and face looked almost translucent. "Have you tried allowing her to recite it?"

Kyp stared.

"Don't tell me," Tionne went on. "You asked her to learn, but when she returned, you didn't bother letting her show it?"

Kyp could feel her exasperation. But he had not thought of that. Knowing that Chii had learned something from Tionne, had been enough for him. It hadn't occurred to him that he would have to check on the progress. The girl was even time-consuming, when she was with somebody else.

"I forgot," he conceded. "But I will of course, let her. What did you teach her?"

"Oh, nothing much, a few ballads and Jedi history. She seems eager, even if she cannot do anything with the knowledge." Tionne smiled when she remembered working with Chii. "She can remember very well, though everyday behaviour is not her strength. You should work on that, Kyp. Chii almost shook little Anakin to bits when he came to collect the broken datapad I had promised him."

That was bad news. If Skywalker was taken by Chii, that was all very well, but hurting his nephew would certainly change the Grand Master's mind. And then - Kyp didn't want to think of it. He would have to act fast.

"Thank you Tionne. And if there is anything I can do for you, just let me know." He broke the connection and steeled himself. Time to listen to some educating ballads.

"Well, Chii, show me what Tionne taught you."

The girl jumped up eagerly, almost bouncing around the young Jedi. "Chii learn much, Tionne is good teacher. "Now Chii sing many songs.

Kyp steadied her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Now that's nice." He did not want to spend the rest of the evening listening to them, though. "Why don't you sing your favourite to me?"

"Chii's favourite is 'Sarasa's Sad Song." the girl stated with conviction.

"I am eager to hear that one," Kyp bent the truth a little. He was more eager for it to be over than about the process of hearing. _At least, _he mused as Chii began, _Sarasa's Sad Song was only a short part of a much longer story about love and honour, a story that took hours to be sung. Thank the Force for little favours._

Chii had already begun her performance, when Kyp finally paid attention to her.

"… emptiness is all around me," she sang,  
"space has never been so cold  
I have never felt so lonely  
I have never felt so old  
even with my friends around me,  
even in the spring of life.  
there is something missing dearly.

"So cruelly separated fate  
a future that should have been ours,  
the plans that carefully we made  
in happily shared hours.  
A burning knife it cut us apart  
you rest in piece, why do I cry  
I lose myself, my soul my heart,  
I am, but am I 'I'?

"I realize it to be true,  
the throbbing pain I feel -  
it's just that lack of you.  
That makes me less than human, less than living  
unable to give, be given;  
dangling from a silken rope,  
yearning, empty, purposeless  
ashen heart and shattered hope,  
my future anybody's guess.  
The truth is simple: all alone  
without you in this galaxy  
there is no place to call my home  
There is no place for me."

Kyp had to admit that Chii had a nice singing voice. She sang with utter conviction, and the Jedi already pitied the poor man, Chii would one day fall in love with, he was in for a world of camp. It took great self control not to snort out laughter when Chii solemnly declared, she had lost herself. _There was not that much to lose_, he figured.

"That is very good," he said, when she stopped, looking up at him expectantly.

"Kyp happy?" Chii wanted to know.

"Yes, Kyp happy," he agreed. Listening to one song seemed not too bad compared to spending a whole afternoon with the girl. "What else did you learn besides ballads?"

Chii crinkled her nose in concentration. "Tionne show Chii to brush hair." She accompanied her words with the imitation of hair brushing. "Tionne Jedi, also teach Chii how to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' different." her tone became uncertain, and her eyes almost bulged at the idea somebody would dare to correct Kyp. Hesitatntly she went ton. "Tionne said, Chii can Say like this."

Chii presses her palm together in front of her and bowed curtly. "Hello."

Then she repeated the gesture, here eyes never leaving Kyps face. "Goodbye."

"Chii!" Kyp exclaimed, sorely tempted to hug her, since Tionne was unavailable at the moment. "That is, I mean, wow, Chii!"

"Chii say wrong?" The girl sounded desperate. "Chii not say hello like that. Chii will not." She shook her head ferociously.

"No, nonono, Chii. Do it. Yes, say 'hello' and 'goodbye' like that. This is perfect!" He laughed. The intelligent solution was so easy once he thought about it. A greeting that demanded no interaction. Kyp felt the urge to call on Tionne immediately and apologise as well as promise her - whatever. The galaxy, if she wanted it.

"Chii say 'hello' as Tionne teach?"

"Yes, most definitely." Kyp ruffled her hair. He would have to remember this when more problems cropped up. No interaction, no problem. And while he was at it, he asked her, "So, how did you greet people before?"

Chii cocked her head. "Chii?"

"You must have met people before me, so how did you greet them?" If he managed to get a conclusive answer from her, he would have some progress up his sleeve, in case Master Skywalker showed interest again.

"Chii not greet people before."

Too bad. But not greeting, might be a clue, too. "Don't worry," he began.

"Chii only say 'goodbye' before, then - nothing." She looked at him, as if she expected him to understand what she did not say.

Kyp didn't. "What do you mean, you only said 'goodbye' before? And then everything went dark? Have you been abducted?"

"What is 'abducted'?"

"That is when somebody forces you to go to a place you do not want to go. When somebody makes you leave where you are.

The girl considered, then she nodded slowly. "Chii abducted, Chii not want to go, but had to. No other choice." She looked up at him, and her eyes were full of sorrow. "Chii not go back."

"Of course, you will go back," Kyp tried to comfort her. "As soon as I find out where you are from, you can go back. Even if those who did this to you went to the length to have your memory wiped, that is not forever. I am sure Master Skywalker can help you there." He patted her arm but she just shook her head.

"Chii not go back.," she repeated sadly. "Back is goodbye. Goodbye is," she groped for a word, empty, ashen, shattered."

"Well, if your home has been destroyed somehow, I am sure we will find a nice new place for you." Kyp was getting worried. The girl might be important. At least to somebody, and important enough to go through quite a lot of trouble to isolate her. Destroying a house, maybe killing family members and giving her a mind wipe, that was only worth it, if she was the key to something.

Maybe some of her memories would surface again. it happened, because a real memory wipe did not work on humans. If you did not destroy the brain, some of the connections would always remain, something would always be remembered.

"Don't you worry," he said again. "We will make it somehow."

"Chii!" The girl jumped at him, hugging him. It was amazing how she went from sadness to exuberance in the blink of an eye. Kyp sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

As Cilghal had advised, Kyp took Chi along to dinner, but the girl didn't want to eat anything.

"Not dinner for Chii," she insisted, no matter what he showed her. But what would be the right dinner for her, she didn't tell him either. The young Jedi sighed as he shoved his food around on his plate. Suddenly he realised that one problem was still ahead of him. "oh, no."

"What's it, messenger boy?" Ganner flopped down opposite of him. "Trouble with your pretty princess?" He winked at Chii.

The girl studied the gesture for a moment. The she turned to Kyp winking repeatedly.

"Stop that Chii," he growled. The he turned to Ganner. "I just realised the girl needs a place to sleep," he sighed.

"What is 'sleep'?" Chii wanted to know.

"Sleep is when you close your eyes, and mouth, and relax to gather new strength for the next day," Kyp explained.

Her face lit up. "Chii sleep with Kyp!" the girl proclaimed.

Ganner almost doubled over with laughter. "She knows what she wants, Durron. Give up already."

"No.! Kyp put a hand on Chii's shoulder and shook his head determinedly. "No, Chii certainly not sleep with Kyp. That is not proper."

"Killjoy," Ganner got in before Chii asked:

"What is 'proper'?"

Kyp was ready to hit his forehead against a wall. This was impossible. And Maybe some kind of progress, considering how he usually wanted to hit the head of the other against a wall.

"Proper is, the right way to do something," he began. "When you do not love each other, you do not sleep in the same room with somebody of the other sex. You are a girl, Chii, and I am a man. So we sleep in separate rooms. That is proper."

"Kyp and Chii not sleep together?" She sounded confused and hurt.

"No, You sleep in Cilghal's room. Cilghal is a girl, so that is proper." Kyp tried to ignore the look the Mon Calamir healer gave him at calling her a girl. "Do you understand, Chii?"

"Chii understand," she replied, obviously not happy. "Chii girl, Cilghal girl, sleep in same room. Kyp man, not proper."

Ganner snorted again.

"Oh shut up Ryshode," Kyp snapped. "Or I will tell her you are a girl, too."

"Ganner not girl," Chii objected.

"Man," she said pointing at Ganner. Then she moved to point at Luke and Kyp in turn. "Man, man. Girl," she finally said, pointing at Cilghal.

"I think she got that," Kyp grinned smugly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyp awoke slowly, not yet willing to get up, so he rolled onto the side, opening one of his eyes to peer at the chrono. But instead, he looked into the huge brown orbs that were Chii's eyes. He almost jumped, getting up much faster than intended. The wall caught him just before he could fall.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Chii?" The girl sat up looking confused.

"Well, why are you here?" he repeated.

"Cilghal sleep. Chii not sleep. Chii here." Her explanation actually explained nothing.

"You are not supposed to be here." Kyp realised that Chii was wearing only and old tunic of Cilghal which was just about long enough, and thus not long enough by far. He threw his blaket over her legs.

"Chii?" She took it and lifted it inquisitively.

Kyp banged the back of his head against the wall. "Cover yourself with that, will you?"

Obediently, Chii put the blanket over her head.

Kyp buried his face in his palm. "To come back to the reason you are here," he mumbled through his hand.

"Chii not sleep, so Chii with Kyp," she answered brightly. "Kyp sleep, Chii not, so Chii not sleep with Kyp and is proper." She beamed happily.

"I need caf before this gets any worse," Kyp decided. "And you get back your clothes. And put them on," he added as a precaution. You can meet me in the refectory then."

"Chii put on clothes." She jumped from the bed, dropping the blanket. Involuntarily, Kyp realised that at her back, the tunic was not quite long enough. "Chii normal, Kyp happy." She bounced off.

Kyp just hoped nobody would see her jumping through the academy half naked. He would have to find proper pyjamas for her. Grumbling he got up. His reflection looked even worse than he felt, but the young Jedi decided to ignore it. Hastily he ran his fingers through his hair while getting dressed and hurried to get some caf.

He let out a happy sigh, when he sat down with his caf and no Chii in sight. He savoured the aroma before taking his first sip. But his peace didn't last long. Chii came bouncing into the room, fortunately, fully dressed by now. Her hair spread in all directions so that her face appeared to float in a golden cloud.

"Chii dressed," she shouted. "Kyp happy?"

"Yes, thank you Chii," Kyp grumbled. "Do you want breakfast?"

The girl looked at him uncomprehending. "What is breakfast?"

"Food, like dinner," Kyp explained, "only in the morning."

A look of concentration appeared on Chii's face as she processed the information. "Food in the evening, dinner; food in the morning breakfast." She beamed at Kyp.

"Yeah, well done slowpoke," he got out. "So what do you want to eat?"

"Chii not eat," the girl shook her head vigorously, whipping her hair through Kyp's face. "Chii sunshine," she declared.

"So true," Ganner chimed in, a grin plastered over his face. "A real Miss sunshine you are, Chii. Don't let that killjoy tell you anything else!"

"Kyp not killjoy," she objected resolutely. "Kyp man, Jedi."

"Maybe you should feed her a dictionary," Ganner mused taking a seat.

Kyp simply glared at him.

"I heard there was some trouble with Chii tonight?" Tionne joined the group, her hands wrapped around a cup. "Can't keep her hands of you, can she?"

"Maybe you can try tonight?" Kyp asked, his voice full of hope. "She likes you." He turned to Chii. "What do you think, would you rather sleep in Tionne's room?"

Chii shook her head. "Not proper," she lectured. "Tionne man, Chii girl."

Ganner roared with laughter and even Tionne could not hide her amusement. "I'd like to hear the story behind that one, Durron," she laughed.

"But," the young Jedi looked from Tionne to Chii in confusion, "she did alright yesterday."

"This is just too good, messenger boy," Ganner snorted. He pulled out a pad and showed Chii a picture of Admiral Ackbar. "Tell me, Chii, man or woman?"

"Woman," came the answer fast and confident.

This time even Kyp had to snort. "Oh, my, he'll never live that down," he chortled. Then he turned to Chii who sat like a confused island in the sea of mirth around her. "That, Chii is Admrial Ackbar, a man and a Mol Calamari. Cilghal is a Mon Calamari, too. And she is a woman."

Chii's eyes became wide; she pointed at the image. "Not girl?" she asked.

"Mon Calamari," Ganner said, flipping through some more images of the species. "Those are Mon Calamari."

"Chii Mon Calamari?" her tone was surprised.

"No, Chii not Mon Cal," Kyp sighed. "Chii is," he looked around for help but nobody at his table offered anything more useful than a shrug. "Chii human," he finally decided. "I am human, too, and Ganner and Tionne are also Humans."

"Cilghal not human?" Chii asked. "Cilghal Mon Cal?"

Kyp nodded happily. "That is it. Now all you need is some biology lessons, preferably by Cilghal."

"I hear my name?" The healer looked at the group around the table. "Did she eat?"

"Nope, but she's sunshine, so everything is fine," Kyp replied. "And she needs some basic lessons in biology, especially gender and species. Could you do that, Cil? You're the specialist on the planet."

The Mon Calamri regarded him for a long moment. "You are trying to share her out to us, are you?"

"No, of course not," the young Jedi objected immediately. "You are simply the better healer and know a lot more about bodies and such." He waved his hand apologetically.

Cilghal nodded and held her hand out to Chii. "Let's go."

The girl looked at Kpy and he nodded. "She will teach you some thing, very important things. We will meet again later."

Reluctantly Chii got up. "Chii learn, the Kyp happy." But she said it sadly. "Chii sunshine?" she asked the Jedi healer tehn.

"If you want to," Cilghal answered. "Because, and that is lesson number one, unlike men us women can walk and talk at the same time."

"Chii walk and talk," was the last thing Kyp heard before they were gone. _Oh yes, that she does_, he sighed inwardly.

Tionne got up, too. "You can leave her with me when you have your advanced studies. Just remember that you are still her guardian, she will always look to you for guidance." She levelled a finger at Kyp and poked him in the chest. "And guide, you will."

"Whatever you want," Kyp said with a grin.

"Does Cil get the same offer," the librarian asked with a wink and left.

Kyp stared into his caf and then at Ganner. "I guess that leaves just the two of us. Ready to take up the sparring from yesterday?"

"Whenever you are," Ganner replied emptying his mug. "And if you want my opinion, you don't deserve that cutie one bit."

"Good thing then, that I don't want your opinion," Kyp replied, following his friend to the exercising halls.


	10. Chapter 10

Kyp felt extremely relieved when he could spar with Ganner without Chii around. The girl had a way to follow him around, if only with her eyes, that was uncanny. As if she expected him to make everything alright, or as if the world would end if she lost sight of him. It seemed like a pressure taken of him, so physical, that he almost looked around at times to see what it was.

"You're doing good, messenger boy," Ganner said. "Trying to beat me fast so you can get back to your princess?"

"Not for my life," Kyp said grinning. "We can spar forever as far as I'm concerned."

Ganner blocked his strike and caught the blades in a lock. "You should really reconsider your priorities, Kyp. She's helpless as a pup and," he took a step back, almost wrenching the hilt from Kyp's grip, "you're the only one she really listens to."

"Well, that's the first thing I'll have to change then," Kyp replied, sidestepping Ganner's next attack. "She can't just glue herself to me like that and expect me to like it."

"You don't have to like it," Ganner said, trying to land a hit on Kyp's back. "Just accept the responsibility."

"But -" Kyp began.

"No, no 'but', Durron," Ganner replied, braking through his defences. "Life's not a candy store where you can pick and choose." With a flick of his wrist he yanked the lightsaber from his opponent's hand. He directed it to himself with the force, sating at Kyp through the crossed blades of their weapons. " It's more like sabacc," he grinned mischievously. "If it deals you the Idiot, you can just hope the other cards for a full array follow."

"Idiot," Kyp mumbled. "That one fits, at least."

Ganner shut down the blades and gave Kyp his sabre back. "Be happy you have some influence on the cards of life," he said. "Much of the hand you'll end up with will be your own doing."

Disgruntled Kyp took his lightsaber. "But I don't have to like it."

"No messenger boy, you can hate it all you want. And see what friggin good it does you." Ganner left laughing.

"Ha ha," the young Jedi grumbled. He was not left to grumbling long, though since Chii bounded into the room just after Ganner had left.

"Chii back," she ginned happily. "Chii full of sunshine now." She bowed beaming. The she looked at Kyp, still half down in he bow. "Kyp not happy?" she asked.

"Eh, it's nothing," he replied. "Lets practice some, right Chii?"

"Chiii-hiii!" The girl bounded off to get the training blades. "Chi fight goo." She stated igniting hers.

"That remains to be seen." Kyp fell into an attack stance. To his satisfaction, Chii dropped into the proper defence. "Good, Chii. Let's spar."

The young girl had forgotten nothing he had shown her the day before. But again her impossibly long hair tended to get into the way. Unimpressed, Chii was about to cut through it, when Kyp stopped the exercises.

"We have to do something about that hair of yours," he said. "I am sure Tionne will know a way to braid it."

"Chii braid hair?" The girl looked at him curiously.

"Yes, and we will ask Tionne for a style that's not only practical, but also looks okay. Or would you rather be ugly?"

The girl considered that for a moment. "Chii not ugly," she finally decided. "Chii braid hair with Tionne." Putting her saber down, she began to walk off.

"Hey, do wait for me," Kyp called after her. "You can't just walk off like that."

"Chii walk and talk," the girl informed him firmly. "Chii walk Tionne and talk, braid hair."

"You learn fast, Chii, but your grammar drives me up the wall," the young Jedi sighed.

Chii watched him expectantly, looking to the nearest wall every now and then.

"Not much grasp of metaphor," Kyp sighed.

Tionne was not in the archives, though. They finally found her in one of the more tamed places around the temple, that almost deserved to be called garden. She was reading from her pad, occasionally taking notes on a second pad beside her.

"Tionne," Kyp called out as they approached.

The Rindaoan looked up, cocking her head slightly. "I feel trouble approach," she smiled.

"Hello Tionne." Chii bowed.

"Hello Chii," the archivist replied. "What insolvable problem do you pose now to Kyp."

"It's not that bad," Kyp said before Chii could answer. "Chii's hair is in the way when we spar. I could only make simple braids and those would be a deadly weapon if she turns her head. There has to be a better way short of cutting her hair."

Tionne regarded Chii and Kyp for a moment. "I could try some Alderaainas styles. Master Skywalker's sister showed me some of those," she said thoughtfully. "I don't have any pictures with me right now, though."

"Tionne sunshine?" Chii asked suddenly.

"Well, yes," the woman replied. "The archives do need a huge make over and Master Skywalker managed to hire Ghent for that." She shook her head slightly. "He's gifted with computers, but - not so when dealing with people."

For half a second, Kyp had the image of Chi and Ghent trying to make conversation before his eyes, and he found it difficult, not to burst out laughing. That was an idea he needed to implement subtly.

"Well, if you don't want to go to the archives now, we could use a private terminal," he suggested.

"In your dream, Durron," Tionne winked at him. "I think I can remember how to turn braids into a kind of crown. But you have to help." The mischief was unmistakable in her voice and face.

"Chii help!" The girl exclaimed full of enthusiasm.

"Yes, you will help, too," the Rindaoan assured Chii. "And you will have to remember how to do it, so you can do it with only Kyp's help."

"Kyp teach well, Kyp learn well." Utter conviction spoke from her tone.

When the girls couldn't see, the young Jedi rolled his eyes. He just hoped Ganner wouldn't catch him out here, braiding Chii's hair. He'd never hear the end of it.


	11. Chapter 11

Zakarisz Ghent needed three more days before anybody could use the archives again. The few times he was seen outside his eyes were either clouded over or gleaming, depending on whether he just found another old system he had never seen before or if it had just crashed on him.

But Kyp didn't mind. That gave him a lot of occasions to be with Tionne, though usually Chii was with them, too. The girl learnt fast, especially reciting and memorising came easily to her. But everything that included contingencies and uncertain numbers and/or options confused her no end. The girl could say 'hello' in over two hundred languages, but still had not mastered the art of shaking hands.

On the third day Kyp just had to give in to his urge to spend some time alone with Tionne as well as put together Ghent and Chii. The hacker had spent the whole morning in the archive, his breakfast had been caf and a slice of toast, and Chilgal worried about his water balance because this was how it happened every day.

"Chii, would you do me a favour?" Kyp asked innocently.

The girl's eyes lit up at the prospect of helping Kyp. "Chii!" She nodded enthusiastic.

"Thank you. Here is something to drink for Ghent. Could you bring it to him?" He held up a bottle of water.

"Ghent in archives," Chii replied. "Chii can give him drink. Chii right back."

"No need to hurry," Kyp grinned. "Take all the time you need."

Chii took the bottle and left for the archives, which left Kyp alone with Tionne. He definitely liked his plan.

Ghent was knee deep in electronics and his mood was sky high. In the last remains of the data storage he had found a new kind of dataworm, its origin unknown, as well as its purpose. The idea of finding out was thrilling, though he had to be careful not to accidentally erase the whole archive. That was the kind of accident people tended to fuss about.

"Hello." A voice pulled him out of his thought. A young girl stood not far away holding a bottle as if it was a great prize."

"Hello," he replied.

"Chii bring drink," she declared, holding the bottle out to him.

Confused the young man took it not sure what to make of the word 'drink'. Did she mean alcohol or just water? Warily he opened the bottle and smelled. It seemed to be water. "That's water, right?" Ghent asked cautiously.

Chii cocked her head and looked at him curiously. "Kyp said bring drink, Chii bring drink. Why water?"

Ghent stared, realised that he did so but couldn't stop. Was this some kind of practical joke? Taking a sip from the bottle, he ascertained that it held indeed water. "I forget to drink," he said tentatively. "But these archives are so interesting. All those hidden programs and traps, it's impossible to tell what you'll find next."

"Ghent likes archives?"

"I love them. Too bad Master Skywalker won't let me keep some of the more exotic finds," the hackers eyes lit up just thinking about it. "There was a hidden datakiller in one of the index files, a real beauty made to substitute certain entries if you looked for them without authorisation. Almost impossible to find I only saw it because…"

To Ghent's surprise the girl stayed and listened to his explanations with interest. Sometimes she nodded, but didn't interrupt him. "Ain't that amazing?", he finally ended.

"Data killer amazing," Chii repeated thoughtfully, staring at the screen beside the hacker.

"Oh, that might not be one, it's an inactive worm of some kind I don't know what it'll do so I isolated this partition of the archives. Once I activate the worm, it cannot get out."

Chii didn't seem to listen, still staring at the monitor. "The energy master connection is diaphanous," she finally replied in a monotone. "The worm can use the silica-connection from this partition to spread; isolation not guaranteed. Suggested procedure: removing the silica connection with a nano-feeder or physically separating the partition."

Ghent looked at Chii realising that this was the most sexy thing any woman had ever said to him. "Wow," he breathed.

"Wow?" Chii repeated.

"Yes, I mean," Ghent looked at the very young face and the impossible ears sticking out from her head. "You're right. If the worm is reciprocal with the physical connections, the virtual borders will mean nothing to it. I think I still have some nano-feeders around." He began to search the stacks of materials. Abruptly, he looked up again. "Did you study deletrious informatics somewhere?"

"Chii not study," the girl replied happily. "Chii know."

The hacker set down the datacards he was holding. "Wow again. If you have some time, I could tell you about my theory about the possibility of anti-cyclic algorithms and their use in cybernetic-cryptologic source codes?" He looked hopeful. "The use for personality programming and individuality are promising. There's just a few quirks, I need to iron out."

"Anti-cyclic algorithms tend to precipitate systemic loops," Chii replied, her voice monotonous again.

"Yes, but you could avoid that," Ghent was pretty sure to have died. Most likely he had put his hand into a power outlet, but what did that matter, if afterlife looked like this? He wondered how to best word his approach, when another man entered the archives.

"Ho, Kyp, dead too?" he called out when he recognised the young Jedi.

"Dead?" Kyp asked back. "Probably not as much as your social life, but that would be ahrd to top. And tell Chilgal if you start to get funny ideas or hear voices, she's the one to worry about such things professionally. I was just wondering where Chii was."

"Chii bring drink," the girl chimed in on cue. "Chii help."

"She's real?" Ghent asked. "Where did you find such a perfect girl?"

"Perfect?" The young Jedi almost burst out laughing. "If she'd play along you could keep her, but for mysterious reasons -"

"Chii with Kyp!" Chii interrupted him almost indignant.

"What I said," the Jedi sighed.

"She's amazing," Ghent insisted unable to take his eyes off the girl.

For some reason Kyp didn't like the enthusiasm the hacker showed for Chii. "Yeah, possibly," he agreed. "If you'd excuse us now." He took Chii's arm and began to drag her away.

"Goodbye," the girl called over he shoulder.

If he had not been so intent on getting away, Kyp might have wondered about this unlikely behaviour. "What did you say to him?", he wondered instead.

"Kyp not happy?" Chii sounded crestfallen. "Chii not understand."

Kyp did not understand either, but he would be damned if he admitted that.


	12. Chapter 12

"You don't own her," Tionne chided. "Just because se is fixated on you badly that doesn't mean she belongs to you. Chii is still her own person and if she gets along well with Ghent, there is no need for you to come barraging in like a mad bantha."

Kyp snorted. "Who has ever heard of somebody, not to mention human and female, getting along well with Ghent?"

"I agree that his social contacts are - limited," she smiled. "That would make it all the more important for him. And you said yourself that she is driving you crazy."

They glanced to Chii who was sitting not far away, completely absorbed by turning her hair into a wealth of tiny braids. She hummed to herself, another of the songs Tionne kept teaching her, and her fingers moved almost too fast to see.

"She didn't object al all," the young Jedi muttered. "And she doesn't tell what they were talking about."

"Injured pride, Durron?" Tionne asked only half joking. "Maybe you should try to find something you can talk about with her, did you ever try?"

Sulking Kyp shook his head. Then an idea struck him. "You are teaching her all those songs, maybe if you taught me b it about them, that would be a topic that interests her."

"You're a hopeless case," Tionne stated. "But now that Ghent is finally out of my archives again, I can surely find something that might , just might be of interest to you as well."

"Chii interested!" The girl had walked up to them, an intricate mess of braids covering her head.

"More like, 'Chii interesting'," Kyp almost laughed. "That hairstyle is definitely out of fashion."

"Chii?" The braids rippled like a nest of angry nexus as she shook her head. "Chii use pattern, not do it wrong."

"This, Chii," Kyp took the flimsy away from the girl, "is an instruction on how to rewire the archives terminals. Though it is incredible you managed to reproduce it on your head, that doesn't make it into Hoth's Hottest Hairstyle."

"Hoth's Hottest hairstyle?" Chii repeated tentatively.

Tionne laid a hand on Kyp's arm before he could answer. "Just let I be, okay. Let's see what mess Ghent left for us to clean up."

"Ghent nice!" Chii proclaimed marching off in the direction of the archives.

"Yeah, sure," Kyp grumbled. "He will probably appreciate of the hairstyle, too."

"Kyp," Tionne ribbed him.

The young Jedi raised his arms in a gesture of surrender.

The archives were empty except for something that looked like an organised chaos. The lights were dimmed and stacks of equipment filled most empty spaces. Kyp looked around, surprised by the change the rooms had gone through.

"Ghent not here?" Chii asked looking around doubtful.

"Well, you can go and see if you find him somewhere in the back," Kyp suggested.

"Chii!" She ran off.

"Now that was mean, Durron," Tionne chided. "You know that Ghent is in a meeting with Skywalker."

Kyp grinned mischievously. "I am a bad person," he agreed. "It is your duty as Jedi to improve me."

Tionne threw her hands up in exasperation. "One day, Kyp Durron, you will go to far and I _will_ whack you one."

"Whenever you're ready," he grinned impishly.

The Rindaoan just snorted and began to look through the stacks. There seemed to be no more system to them than having things of the same kind on one stack. Gear, datacards, cables everything had been neatly piled.

"Do you think he made a list of what is where?" She wondered aloud.

"If he did," Kyp sighed, "he either took it with him, or put it on the stack of flimsies that has to be around here somewhere…"

"Hey, look at that," Tionne exclaimed.

"Did you find it?" Kyp leaned over her shoulder, but there was just a pile of datacards in front of her. "What's that?"

"I have no idea," Tionne sounded excited. "I have never seen these before, they must be centuries old."

"Where are they from?" Kyp's interest was perfunctory.

"I don't know." Tionne took one of the cards and went to try it on the archive's system. "A lot of things were just taken along from Corsucant for the archives and I seem to have overlooked these so far. I wonder what is on them."

While she powered up the system, Kyp looked for markings on the datacard, but there were none. It was a format he had never seen before either. So had the system. It could not read the data on the card.

"I'll try another program," Kyp said, infected with the excitement of finding something new and maybe important. For a while they tried several different ways to access the data, but without success.

In the end Tionne took the datacard again and sighed. "Maybe Ghent can do something with it.

"Chii help?" The girl had finished her search for the hacker and looked at the Jedi curiously.

"If you can read the data on this, that would be a help indeed," Kyp couldn't help but tease.

Chii took the datacard and turned it over in her hands a few times. Then she went to the display.

"We already tried that, Chii," Kyp said, but she didn't listen. For a moment she just stood in front of the terminal, the datacard still cradled in her hands. Suddenly her right hand went up to her ear and to the complete amazement of Tionne and Kyp opened it in the middle. Out of the opening she pulled a cable and plugged it into the datacard. Then she repeated the process, plugging herself into the system.

"Processing data," she said flatly.

Kyp couldn't believe the monotonous voice should belong to the exuberant girl he knew. "Are you okay, Chii?", he asked worried.

The girl did not react. Suddenly, an index appeared on the screen, showing the content of the ancient datacard. As if freed from a distraction, Chii's face lit up. "Chii fine," she beamed.

"How … ?" Kyp pointed helplessly at her head. "I mean … ?"

Tionne approached Chii as if she was afraid the girl would explode any second. "May I?" She reached for the open ear.

"Chii?" the girl looked at Kyp who only nodded, still stunned.

Carefully, Tionne took the lower part of the 'ear' and moved it up and down a bit. Then she went to the girl's other ear, opening it and looking inside. "More plugs," she commented breathless. "We'd better call Ghent."

"Ghent?" Kyp did not like the idea. "What does he have to do with it?"

"If anybody can help us unravelling this mystery it's him," Tionne reasoned. "He's the best hacker this side of Coruscant. If anybody can do something with her, it's Zakarisz Ghent. Stop acting so jealous."

"Jealous?" Kyp asked. "How can I be jealous? She's just a child, and a droid, too."

"You keep telling yourself that, Durron," the archivist snapped, "and maybe you actually end up believing it. I'll go and tell Master Skywalker," Tionne said. "In the mean time you can try find out if she can convert the data to a modern format and save them."

"You can't just use her like that," Kyp objected.

"Who had just seconds ago claimed she's just a droid, Durron?" Tionne replied and left, shaking her head.

Muttering under his breath, Kyp turned back to Chii. The girl looked at him expectantly. "Okay," he grumbled, "let's see if we can download the data. Create a new folder on the mainscreen and name it Ancient Datacards."

"New folder created," Chii said, her voice flat again.

Kyp scratched his head but dismissed it. "Create a subfolder for each datacard, number them, and then convert and copy the data on each card into the corresponding folder."

"Creating subfolder. Subfolder created. Converting data," Chii stared ahead, her face blank. The only sign of life was a tiny speck of light that kept moving across her eyes from right to the left like a cursor.


	13. Chapter 13

When Tionne returned a few minutes later with Master Skywalker and Ghent, Chii stood still unmoving, only the tiny light moving across her eyes. Kyp had tried to talk to the girl, but she hadn't reacted.

"How much data was on that card?" Ghent wanted to know.

Kyp shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. I mean, we couldn't see what's on it at all."

"And you just told her to convert and copy the whole thing?" Ghent asked incredulous. "What if that's over her capacity? She might crash or end up in a overload loop. What if some of her own data gets damaged. You're such a dork, Durron!"

He turned to Chii and waved his hand before her eyes. There was no reaction.

"She doesn't react to anything I say," Kyp said.

"Did you even use the right commands?" Ghent took Chii's arms and turned her to face him. "Report current status."

For a while nothing happened. Then the girl opened her mouth. Very slowly she said, "conversion at fifteen percent, process ongoing."

"See?" Ghent said to Kyp. "Easy. She didn't crash, but the process seems to occupy her whole capacity. You have to override the order, Durron."

"Don't you think, I tried?" Kyp snapped.

"With commands?" Ghent raised a brow. "I am amazed."

The young Jedi clenched his fists. "Chii," he hissed through closed teeth, "override the last command. Stop the process after this data card." He looked at Tionne apologetically. "I told her to convert them all."

"Now this is an interesting problem," Luke finally spoke up. So far he had just been watching the girl with interest. "If she is a droid, who does she belong to? We didn't search for lost droids so far."

"I will do that," Ghent said immediately. "I'll search the whole holonet for info about her. Maybe we can restore some of her memory, or upload some programs that will work on that in the long run."

"Install –?" Kyp didn't believe his ears. "You can't just install something on her."

"Why not?" Ghent looked surprised. "With that amount of plugs it should be easy. And if her memory was wiped, we could find clues there where she comes from and who owned her. It's difficult and time consuming to remove really all traces."

Kyp didn't like the happy way the hacker regarded Chii, as if she were just another challenge. "But she is doing things all on her own."

"Yes, her learning software seems fully functions," Ghent mused. "That's interesting, because it means there's more than one level to her encoding. I wonder if there are different security systems for them."

"First we must find her previous owner," Luke insisted. "He will be missing her."

"And then?" Kyp asked. "We just give her back or what? What if she doesn't want to go back? She wants to be with me."

"Might be a safeguard," Ghent sounded thoughtful. "Once you wipe the memory but leave the learning software intact, she needs to latch on to a teacher. That way, she won't get completely lost. If I can get through her security, I can just wipe that information. I can wipe everything you want, actually."

Before Kyp could say anything, Chii spoke again. "Conversion process finished. Copying data to Folder One."

"Well, I'll get searching," Ghent said. "The sooner we know the better, though I hope to find nothing." He glanced at Chii. "She's so amazing!"

"Chii amazing!" the girl suddenly said, the exuberance back in her voice.

"You certainly are," Luke replied. "Do you know who owns you?"

The girl cocked her head. "Chii not understand."

"Who do you belong to." Luke rephrased the sentence.

Chii's eyes lit up. She glomped Kyp happy, disregarding the fact that the cables still attaching her to the console went taut. "Chii belong to Kyp!"

"What did I tell you?" Kyp said challengingly. For once, he made no attempt to free himself of the girl's arms.

"I am afraid that her word will not count much before a galactic court, though," Luke replied.

"She did make her own decisions," Tionne tried to help Kyp. "She is certainly not just any droid."

"Just because that's how it is," Luke said , "doesn't mean I like it. If her former owner cannot be found, it is up to you Kyp."

"No worries, I'll take care of her," Kyp assured.

"We do have to try everything to find her owner, though," Luke cautioned. "I am afraid Ghent will have to look through her data conscientiously."

"Whatever," Kyp murmured. "But you can be sure, I'll have an eye on him. "

"Kyp not worry." Chii dislodged herself from the young Jedi. "Ghent nice."

"Yeah," the young Jedi grumbled, "I believe that when you come back unscathed."


	14. Chapter 14

"Nothing." Kyp plopped down opposite of Master Skywalker. "One week of thorough search and still nothing. I have looked at each Lost and Found on Tynna twice; I even checked the less legal places and then I did the same on the whole system. Nobody reported anything like Chii missing."

"It had to be done," Skywalker replied calmly.

"I know," Kyp sighed. "I even left a notice with the authorities, if somebody starts looking for her."

"Very good. That is all we can do." He smiled. "And Chii has developed nicely since Ghent did some of his magic, don't you think?"

Grudgingly Kyp had to agree. Knowing that Chii was a droid had made things more complicated, not less as he had expected. Ghent loved her no less for it, and it explained why they got along so well. Ghent could not handle social ambiguity and neither could Chii. Also the girl had an enormous knowledge about everything relating to programming, probably so she could repair herself in case of need.

And though Kyp had an easy time now to get rid of Chii who seemed incapable to disobey a direct order from him, it made him uneasy. It felt wrong. Chii didn't seem to mind as long as he ordered her around nicely. The young Jedi couldn't shake the feeling he was missing something.

"She has finished converting the ancient datacards, too," he finally said. "Tionne says it's mostly old history, a little Sith lore and tales. She is currently working through the set that deals with the Ruusan reformation."

Luke nodded. He had had a short look into some of the data and it had amazed him. To him the rules of the Old Jedi Order had seemed to be set in stone. To find out that they had been changed dramatically over the years was new and unsettling. Though it should have been comforting. If thousands of Jedi couldn't find the one right way in thousands of years, it would not be on him alone to find it now.

"Does Chii remember any of the data she converted?" Luke asked.

"Nothing. It seems that her conscious self is completely removed from her data processors." Kyp sighed. "Ghent wanted to look into that, but he found more safeguards than ever when he tried to get into her core programming."

"Interesting that her personality should be independent of it," Luke mused. "It might help your argument, Kyp, so think about it."

"I will," the young Jedi said getting up. He found Tionne in the archives, studying the old data. Though she seemed completely absorbed by her task, she looked up when he approached and smiled. "Back already?"

"Found nothing, and that makes ma happy, actually," Kyp replied peering over her shoulder. "Something interesting finally?"

"I am sure you are," the Rindaoan laughed softly. "This is interesting because it is good material for a ballad, and Chii seems to like it a lot."

Kyp looked a round. "Where is she anyway?"

"Ghent collected her a while ago, he said he wanted to try something on her but he used so many long and complicated words that I couldn't make out what he was talking about," she made a note on her pad.

"Sounds like Ghent alright," Kyp agreed. Though he felt the urge to stomp after the hacker, he controlled himself. "And this is?" He indicated the screen.

"_The Legend and Tragedy of the Quixotic Jedi_*," Tionne replied. "It seems that after the Order forbid attachments among other things some Jedi went rogue."

"Can't blame them," Kyp said. "No attachments sound pretty harsh. I'm glad Luke didn't jump on the idea when he found out."

"He would have trouble justifying it, I suppose," Tionne replied. "And I am sure Mara would lecture him about it too."

"He'd never hear the end of it," Kyp chuckled. "I'll better go and save Chii."

Skywalker had given Ghent new rooms closer to the archives. They were bigger and allowed him to set up an uncanny amount of gear as well as create a maze of cables over which you tripped inevitably. Carefully Kyp made his way to where Ghent sat, staring at a monitor with Chii leaning over his shoulder. Cables hung from both her 'ears' and were connected to many of the items around.

When Chii saw Kyp, she tried to glomp him, but the tangled mass of cables kept her from going very far. "Kyp!" She exclaimed happily.

The hacker turned, looking no less happy than Chii. "Durron, she is so amazing. Incredible, all that disc space and her random access memory is boundless. So far she fried all equipment, I put to her," Ghent beamed. "She's amazing!"

"Chii amazing," came the echo from the girl. "Chii do anything." The girl began to unplug herself from the computers around.

"And she can remember everything, I took the time and uploaded some -"

"You did what?" Kyp almost shouted.

"I'll show you," Ghent said, completely unperturbed by Kyp's outburst. "If you ask her, you can upload anything. It's a matter of knowing the right subroutines and finding out which verbal codes correspond to something you might type up. Anyway," he finally stopped to breathe, "look at this. Chii, please do the sports program I installed."

"Chii," the girl nodded removing the last plugs. After she was free of them she closed the gap between herself and Kyp. The Jedi noted that something about the way she moved was very wrong. There was a sway to her hips, and when she pushed her long hair back with a very studied gesture, the young Jedi knew what was coming.

The girl moved her hands over her body seductively, twirling slowly, showing of, well, nothing really in her case, but Kyp got the idea all too clear. Chii came to stand with her back pressed against him, trying to lay her head back on his shoulder. Kyp glared at Ghent.

"Um, Chii? The other one."

"Chi." Without missing a stride she changed from aggressively sexual harassment to a classical form of Coruscanti ballet.

"Zakarisz Ghent, did you program her to do lap dancing?" There was a dangerous edge in Kyp's voice.

If the hacker heard it, he didn't show the least. "Yes, and that was quite a pain because you cannot just download interaction, you see. She need a partner to try-" he had to stop when Kyp's hand closed in around his throat.

"You had Chii practising that?"

Ghent gurgled a bit before he was able to reply. "Darn difficult I tell you. A stack of boxes just doesn't have the right proportions and," he gurgled again, "I could not get up because I needed to enter the commands and-" He inhaled when Kyp suddenly let go off him. "The ballet was much easier, since she doesn't need to interact."

Kyp turned to watch Chii, who was still dancing something that looked vaguely familiar. She easily sidestepped the stacked parts and cables, not stumbling once. She turned on one foot, raising the other elegantly over a terminal and Kyp was too surprised by the beauty of it to realise that her skirt had to move up all the way to her waist.

"Chii, please stop," he said as soon as the information caught up with his brain.

"Kyp not happy?" Chii returned to his side looking worried.

"No, it's okay, you do fine." Kyp sent a meaningful glare at Ghent before going on. "You just need another outfit for dancing. Showing what you wear under your dress is not - you just don't do it, okay?"

"Okay, Chii not show underwear."

"And taking it off so it doesn't show is not decent either," Kyp added suddenly. Chii was too literal sometimes, and he did not want to chance it in this case, droid or not.

"She can do voices, too," Ghent suddenly interjected. "I told you, once you know the commands, nothing's impossible. Here, I thought Wyssna Starflare would be cool, and Master Skywalker, that one's a hoot. Didn't get to the Hutt voice yet."

"Ghent," Kyp interrupted him. "Why don't you just stop uploading gadgets and treating her like the latest icomp edition? Have you nothing sensible to do?"

"Oh, but the memory worm I implanted to her processor needs some time to take effect," Ghent said as if it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy. "And the easiest way to find out what works and what not is trying. "

"So did you find out anything useful yet?" Kyp grumbled.

"Nothing new so far," Ghent had to admit. "She has two separate systems running. If I upload something to her, she can do it, but it is not as if she actually learnt it or anything. It's like a recording device. On the other hand, everything she has learnt the traditional way is also accessible for the Replay Memory. Of course, you could use complex algorithms to create the semblance of improvisation, but she can only use the data already fed to her, nothing new. Her other memory is capable of independent learning."

"And I had always though women were the most complicated thing in the galaxy." Kyp's head spun. "But it seems that artificial women are even worse. Are you trying to tell me that -"

"Chii amazing!"

"Yes, you are," the Jedi laid a hand on her shoulder. "But right now, I could do with a little less amazing."

"Chii less amazing," the girl assured him immediately. "Chii normal."

With a sigh the young Jedi turned Chii towards the door. "If only," he sighed. "If only."

* * *

* shoplifted from Corellain_Ale


	15. Chapter 15

Chii proved her complete absence of normality all over again, when just a few moments later Ganner interrupted the lightsaber practice Kyp had arranged to vent his anger.

"Well, well, messenger boy," he called, "still trying to teach her to fight? I heard she can dance, now that's sounds a lot more interesting to watch."

"I bet it does," Kyp grumbled, shutting down his saber.

Copying him Chii did the same. "Chii dance?" She asked?

"No, Chii not dance," Kyp replied. "Just ignore him. What is it?" he then turned to his friend.

"What, can't I just come to watch my best friend practice with his pretty princess?" He winked at Chii. "Do I always need a reason?"

"Master Skywalker sent you to get Chii back to Ghent," Kyp said, frowning in concentration.

"Not really," Ganner laughed. "But you're getting better. He wants to let Anakin have a look at her. The combination of his talents might bring up something the separate use of the Force and mad hacking skills may not. At least, that's the theory."

"Nobody asks my opinion?" Kyp demanded to know.

Ganner shook his head. "Your opinion is well-known, but irrelevant. Learn to live with it, Durron." He ribbed the other Jedi.

"Well, don't expect any cooperation then," Kyp huffed.

"That would be something new and unexpected from you anyway," Ganner teased back. "Don't take it so hard, I don't think anything will happen. Not to her."

"Great, have fun then." Kyp stalked out of the training hall. He didn't like the way at all that Chii was recently treated. Though he had had few qualms of ordering her around before himself, the unspoken assumption hovering over her now bothered him. Looking back over his shoulder, he found that Chii was following him.

"Sorry," he stopped her at arm's length. "You will have to go with Ganner."

"Ganner?" the girl asked confused.

"Yup, Ganner. That smug looking guy over there." He turned Chii to face his friend and quickly left.

Ganner shrugged, then winked at Chii. "He'll get over it, promise."

The girl didn't answer. When Ganner walked away she didn't follow him.

"Hey, come on princess," the Jedi called back. "The sooner this is over, the sooner you can return to Kyp."

Chii didn't move. Her face still held the confused expression it had taken when Kyp left.

"Great," Ganner grumbled. "Whatever did he do now?" He waved his hand before Chii's eyes and poked her shoulder, she didn't react. Shaking her had no effect either. He tried taking her arm and dragging her away, but for all her slimness, he couldn't move her an inch. Chii stood like rooted to the ground. He was still trying to make her move, when Master Skywalker entered the gym, followed by his nephew.

"We wondered what kept you," Luke said, glancing at Chii. "What is it this time?"

"I don't know," Ganner confessed, watching Anakin approach the droid. "Last thing Kyp said was for her to come with me and she just froze up. Beats me."

While Luke and Ganner were still considering the situation, Anakin reached out and touched Chii's hand. Immediately, she turned her head to look at him.

"Hello, it's me Anakin," the boy said.

"Hel-lo, Anakin," Chii replied in a stutter, her hands meeting only half way and the bow was indiscernible.

"Now that looks bad," Luke remarked. "What did you do with her?"

"Me?", Ganner protested. "I didn't do anything. Did I, Chii?"

The girl ignored him and kept staring at Anakin. "She's still functional, but something must be clogging up her main memory," he stated. "And she's confused."

"How can a droid be confused?" Ganner wondered.

"Bilateral ambiguities can cause output uncertainties, but most systems have algorithms to sort those out," Ghent suddenly chimed in. All eyes turned to him. "What?" he shrugged. "You didn't expect me to stay away when something interesting happens with Chii, did you? Anyway, if the algorithms are defective, the answer can be a real number, and if she tries to calculate all number after the comma -"

"We get it, Ghent," Ganner interrupted the hacker. "She's caught in some kind of loop."

"If you want to put it into such inadequate and inaccurate words," Ghent huffed, "yes she is."

"Are you okay?" Anakin wanted to know, carefully holding Chii's hand.

There was a long pause before the girl answered. "Chii okay, data does not compute."

"The only one giving her input is Kyp," Luke observed, "I'll call him." Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force until he found the sulking and offended presence of his pupil in his rooms in the temple. "He's on his way."

"Can't we just have her repeat the contradictory orders," Ghent sighed. Sometimes he was frustrated with people for overlooking the obvious.

"No problem, "Ganner replied, annoyed with the hacker for pointing out the obvious. "Chii repeat the contradictory orders."

Nothing happen. The girl didn't even take her eyes off Anakin.

"See?" the young Jedi was not really bothered by his failure since it proved Ghent wrong for one.

"She didn't hear you," Anakin said softly.

"What?" Ganner could not believe it. He opened one of the fake ears of the girl and began to repeat his words very loudly.

"What are you doing there?" Kyp's voice thundered through the gym. "What the fragg is wrong with you?"

"Me?" Nothing's wrong with me, messenger boy," Ganner called back. "You blonde haired beauty is the problem. She's in a loop and doesn't do anything."

"That's not quite right," Ghent spoke up, but was silenced by Ganner's gaze quickly.

Kyp took Chii's hand from Anakin and looked at her worriedly. "What is it, Chii? Did they do anything to you?"

The girl shook her head as if in slow motion. "Chii fine," she said.

"Don't say such nonsense," Kyp replied. You're all messed up. What happened?"

"Data does not compute," the girl sounded distressed. "Chii unable to carry out orders."

"Orders? But Chii, nobody can order you around. You must deicide for yourself each time if you follow an order." Kyp looked into very confused brown eyes. "Even when I tell you to do something, you can always decide not to do it. Okay?"

"Chii - Chii not understand," the girl answered.

"Oh Force," Ghent rolled his eyes and stepped to Kyp's side. "Repeat the contradictory orders, Chii."

Before Ganner could point out that he had already tried that, Chii went rigid. "Contradictory orders," her flat voice sounded as if she read the text off an inner screen. "Order One: ignore Ganner, Order Two: go with Ganner. Input does not compute, estimated resolution uncertain."

"But," Kyp began. "Erase all orders, Chii." He sighed.

"Good work Durron," Ghent sighed. "You really should be more careful with her input."

"But she doesn't have to follow my orders," Kyp objected.

"And where did you put that in her script?" Ghent asked back. "Forgotten that so far, huh?"

"But she didn't always do what I told her. Remember when she was supposed to spend the night at Clighal's?"

"Did you order her not to return to your room? Or to stay with Cilghal? Yeah, what I though." Ghent shook his head. People just never got droids and code. While he was exchanging heated words with the young Jedi, Anakin led Chii away from the group.

"Do you remember what just happened?" he asked the girl.

"I was confused," Chii replied. "I wanted to do two things but I couldn't. Is that bad?"

Anakin traced a line down her temple as if looking for something. "No, it's not bad. Happens to all of us sometimes. What about the part about following orders. Can you do that?"

Sadly Chii shook her head. "I don' t understand. "Chii belong to Kyp, but Kyp say not follow orders. Kyp say _I_ must decide."

"Can you?"

"Chii want to do what Kyp say," the girl almost whispered. "Chii be normal, do what Kyp say, then Kyp happy. Is that wrong?"

It took Anakin a lot of self control not to laugh out loud. The girl-droid sounded like she had a really bad crush on Kyp, but her sad seriousness forbade any outburst of laughter. "That is not wrong. But why do you want that?"

"Because if I don't, Chii not happy."

"And what are you doing now?" Kyp asked over Anakin's shoulder.

"What I came for," the boy replied. "working on the droid/person problem we seem to be having with Chii.

"And tow hat results are you coming?"

"You mean apart from the obvious answer that droids can be people, a mixed one. Chii feels much to human in the Force and at the same time she acts too much like a droid to be really a person."

"Well, she's working on it." Kyp took Chii's arm and dragged her away. "You tell me when they get on your nerves, right?" he told the girl then.

"Chii tell," the girl affirmed. "Chii have no nerves."

Kyp came to a very sudden full stop which resulted in Chii walking straight into him. He looked down at the mass of blonde hair. "Could you repeat that?"

Chii raised her head to face him, a big smile plastered on her face. "Chii have no nerves," she repeated dutifully.

"And - how do you know that?" Kyp realised how close they stood and took a careful step backwards.

"Chii know." She nodded vigorously. "Chii is Chhi, have no nerves."

"If you say so," Kyp replied uneasily. He led Chii to the gym, determined to get his mind off those unpleasant topics. Training Chii was not quite as relaxing as practicing with Ganner or on his own, but for the moment, he preferred to have her around. With all those techno-crazy guys around it was just a mtter of time before anybody suggested opening Chii up to see what was inside her. The young Jedi was adamant that this would not happen as long as he was around.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course he had not been able to keep Chii from Ghent and Anakin for the whole day. Kyp sat on his bed watching Chii brush her hair. It was uncertain how much effect Clighal's talk about the bee and bird thing had had on the girl. Chii had insisted on sharing a room with Kyp, and in the end it had been easier to put up a small bunk on the other side of the room than forcefully dislodging the girl from the room every hour.

It was amazing how strong Chii was. Of course, not so much if you remembered that she was a droid, somehow, but watching her single-handedly carrying boxes larger than herself through the archives was impressive. The girl liked to help Tionne. One the one hand that was good, because it gave Kyp many excuses to linger close to the archives, but it also made things difficult. Sometimes it felt more as if Chii owned him than the other way round.

"Nobody owns her," he muttered to himself. There was something he overlooked, something that would give him leverage against Master Skywalker, but try as he might he could not remember it. When he had snapped at Anakin, it had almost come back, but just almost.

Chii hummed, still brushing her long hair. Kyp wondered why anybody should design a droid-girl with such long hair. It seemed impractical. She hummed absentmindedly, but the young Jedi didn't recognise the melody.

"Is that a new song Chii?" Remembering Tionne's chiding her decided to ask.

The girl shook her head, her hair flying around and turning into a mess again. "Not new, ballad very, very old. Tionne ind it on the datacards," she explained.

Kyp had to smile. Old and new were obviously very flexible words. "Well then, let's hear it." What is it about?"

"Tionne say it is prologue., that is before story starts," Chii smiled happily. "Like on Tynna, before Chii began." Before Kyp could start to make sense out of that, Chii began to sing:

"Change was all over the land  
Bringing traditions to an end  
Showing a new path to the light  
To true belief and what is right  
But as it is with those right ways  
They demand a sacrifice  
That some may simply label change,  
While others give it different names  
Progress, decay, liberation, shackle  
It depends on how you tackle  
The new that comes, will always come  
For life is change, and then change some.

On the sacrifice depends  
where your road and questing ends  
to be one with your life and love  
an entity with the living Force.  
Or break that bonds that held you fast.  
And secure throughout the past.

Now is the time you must decide  
Whether to fight your own crusade  
if it is worth leaving your home and your friends  
Worth fighting for no matter how it ends  
Your heart, the Force, Who is your guide?  
Or do they stand for same side?  
And only time will show, my friend  
If you are the lesson learnt,  
Or an example for others to see  
So they might attain serenity."

For a long moment Kyp only looked at the young girl. The song had been strangely cheerful despite its content. He wondered if Chii had understood of what she was singing. "That was very beautiful," he said finally. "Why did you choose to learn this one?"

"Because Chii change," the girl answered promptly.

"Okay," Kyp replied. "Change into what? And what were you before?"

"Chii not understand."

"If you change, you have to have been something else before," the young Jedi tried to explain.

"No." She shook her head determined. "Chii is Chii."

"But you just said that you changed," Kyp insisted.

Chii cocked her head and looked at him uncomprehending.

With a sigh, Kyp ruffled her hair. "We'll sort that out some other day. I need some sleep."

"Chii sleep, Chii normal," the girl immediately announced and laid down on her bunk. She pulled the blanket over her dress and closed her eyes.

Kyp sighed again. He was sure Chii did not need sleep, but did pretend to do so, only to comply for Kyp's demand of her being normal. He wondered if he could revoke that order, too, like ignoring Ganner. He really wondered what she would do then.


	16. Chapter 16

As it turned out, that was not so easily done. Chii refused adamantly to stop trying to be normal. Her hair whipped through the air as she shook her head.

"I don't get it," Kyp sighed, looking at Tionne. "Every other command is easy to remove, but she won't go back on that. You don't have to be normal, Chii," he assured the girl again. "You're perfectly fine the way you are."

"Chii perfect," the girl nodded. "Chii be perfect normal and Kyp be happy."

"But I'm not sure anymore if that is true," Kyp objected.

"Kyp be happy," there was no place for protest in Chii's tone.

"But would you do thing just to make Tionne happy, too?" Kyp insisted.

Chii considered the question for a long while. Finally she nodded. "Yes. Chii do things to make Tionne happy. Not so many," she added hesitantly, "but things, too."

"Interesting," the archivist said. "She seems to be working out a hierarchy of importance."

"Listen Chii," Kyp took her and and looked into the girl's dark eyes. "Your first and most important for you is to make Chii happy. Do you understand. Chii make Chii happy, not somebody else."

The girl's face screwed up in concentration, then she nodded. Not that it had changed much in the long run. She still clung to Kyp and insisted that spending time with him _was_ making her happy. And, try as he might, Kyp could not deny to himself that this was somehow making him happy, too. Also her skills with a lightsaber had grown incredibly and fighting with her was actually fun.

Anakin had lost interest in Chii surprisingly fast. "She's just like 3PO and Artoo," he had said. "Only more so."

Not that Kyp approved of the comparison. Chii was a person of her own accord and she also very much looked like one. He watched her fluent movements while parrying the blade of her saber. How could anybody see her as a droid? He concentrated on her aura to fell for her next move, when it struck him. So that was it. He almost forgot to parry Chii's strike.

"Loosing again, messenger boy?" Ganner called from the door of the gym.

"Even you have trouble winning against her by now," Kyp called back. "I am not ashamed."

"Bah, you just like her too much," Ganner teased. "Master Skywalker wants to see you."

Okay, you can have your butt whipped by Chii while I -"

"No, both of you," his friend interrupted him.

Kyp's heart sank. That didn't bode well at all. "Okay, then we'll go and see him, I guess."

"Cii go and see Luke," the girl chimed in happily. Her use of titles and respectful forms of address was still highly idiosyncratic. She shut down her saber and redid her braids with hands moving almost to fast to see.

Master Skywalker was radiating mixed feelings when they entered the small conference room. He stood beside a display, that was turned on, but not showing any message at the moment. "Sit down, please." The Grandmaster gestured towards a couple of chairs. "This might take some time."

Uneasily, Kyp sat down next to Chii. For a moment he wondered whether to take her hand in a reassuring gesture, but since he couldn't really pin, _who_ he'd be reassuring, he didn't. "Bring it on."

A few minutes later, the young Jedi wished fervently he _had_ taken Chii's hand. "This is - unexpected," he said.

"He called this morning," Skywalker replied, "but I thought it wiser to check on his identity and credentials before telling you."

"Who was that?" Chii wanted to know.

"That, Chii, was you owner," Luke explained. "The man who you belonged to, before you met Kyp."

The girl shook her head. "Chii not know that man. Chii belong to Kyp."

Luke looked from Kyp to Chii and back. "I know it is ont easy for you, Kyp."

"Not easy?" the young Jedi almost shouted. "What about 'not right'? Are we not supposed to protect those in need? I won't just hand her over to any guy who comes along and claims to own her." He crossed his arms before his chest. "She doesn't even remember him."

"He did a memory wipe," Luke said softly. "Of course she remembers nothing."

"But what if he does another wipe?"

"She's his droid, Kyp." Luke said softly. "There is nothing we can legally do."

"She's more than that," the young Jedi objected getting ready the argument he had almost forgotten. "Remember when she arrived? We all thought she was a person. She shows up in the Force just like any other sentient being. And the Force doesn't lie. If it treats her as a person, so should we."

"I am not saying you are wrong, Kyp," Skywalker tried again. "But as long as there are laws we cannot simply break or ignore them."

"There must be another way," the young Jedi insisted.

"Then you must find it," Luke replied. "But until then, I am afraid, Chii will have to return to her owner."

Kyp glared at the Grandmaster, but then lowered his head. "Whatever," he mumbled. "When do we leave?"

"We have not made a precise appointment, but tomorrow would be the day," Luke laid a hand on Kyp's shoulder. "You have some time left, yet."

Kyp shrugged the hand off and shook his head, but he replied nothing. "Come, Chii, time to pack."

"Chii pack," the girl repeated dutifully.

"Yep," Kyp let out a sigh. "Let's go on a trip."


	17. Chapter 17

"Come, Chii, we're leaving." Kyp shook the girl softly. She opened her eyes and there was no hint of sleepiness in them. Kyp suspected that Chii did not need any sleep at all, but did the act simply to put him at ease.

"We leave?" Her tone was sad and hopeful at the same time.

Kyp just nodded.

"Chii now say goodbye?" The girl got up fully dressed, smoothing down her dress with her hands.

"Um, well," Kyp hedged, handing her a small bag, "it is a bit early in the morning to wake everybody. I think we should let them sleep."

"Nobody want say goodbye to Chii?" The girl asked heartbroken.

Kyp did not know what to answer. Somehow he did not feel that telling her the truth would be a good idea. In her yes/no mentality, Chii could be quite a stickler for rules.

"Of course they do, but -"Kyp found nothing to say. "I will explain it to you later, okay? First we must go."

"Where are we going?" Chii asked looking around.

"Just on a small trip, a holiday." The young Jedi pulled her along. "So, did you learn some new songs?" to distract Chii.

The girl nodded happily. "Tionne show me more of the Huntsmen."

"You like that story, don't you?"

"It is story for Chii," she stated full of conviction.

"Well, then, would you mind singing some of that to me?" Kyp asked. "Softly, so only I can hear it?"

"Chii!" This exclamation was the last loud sound the girl made before starting to sing softly.

He listened only with half an ear as he led Chii through the temple, carefully avoiding any places that could contain awake members of the Order. The song was something about a guy, a Flyer, or Filer, that disagreed with the Order and decided to leave. "Figures," Kyp thought, closing the last door behind them.

The night was clear around them, nothing but wind in the trees and stars above. Kyp had placed a Skipray blastboat outside under some pretext. He lowered the ramp, ushering Chii in. As he looked back at the temple, he wondered why Skywalker had refused to help him. Rules could not be everything. He followed the girl inside.

_"They cannot see, they cannot see  
What's right before their eyes  
Keep telling me it's insanity  
Too deadlocked in their ways.  
What can I do, am I alone?  
Shall I be on my own?"_

"Strap in Chii," he told the girl, that was singing unperturbed. Her voice was calming, and almost made the young Jedi forget the circumstances of his departure. Guilt washed over him, though he could not really place the source. Keeping Chii safe from her former owner, alleged former owner, Kyp told himself, could certainly not be it.

He powered up the engines. There was no going back now. The noise would awake somebody and the game would be up. But they would be far away by the time pursuit set in, if it set in.

_"You gotta warn a man, I tell you lass,  
Before you pull a manoeuvre like that,"  
Nar hollered at piloting Nola, but  
She knew that her skills would surpass  
Those of their pursuers  
Jedi and good-doers."_

The blastboat took off with a jolt and shot into the sky. On his monitors Kyp could see no other ship anywhere close to the planet.

'If there is another way you must find it,' Skywalker's voice echoed in his mind. The Grandmaster had certainly not meant he run away in the middle of the night, break several laws, and kidnap Chii. _Steal_, Kyp thought bitterly. _I didn't kidnap her, I stole it._

As long as Chii was not able to be a person on her own right, he could not return. There was no way in all Sith hells he'd ever hand her over. Certainly not to somebody who just claimed to own her and was on an about to wipe her memory. He cast a sideways glance at the girl who sat next to him.

Without stopping to sing, Chii returned the smile.

No, he would not hand her over. He would find a way to ascertain her independence and self-determination. And if he could not find a way - he just had to.

_"And never go back to that place  
And show those stuck-up schmucks my face  
For they don't understand, my dear  
What we love, believe and fear."_

Kyp let out a relieved sigh when hyperspace closed in around them. The swirling patterns calmed his racing thoughts. They were safe, if only for a while. He programmed the navcomp to do some short, randomised jumps to throw any pursuers of their tracks.

_"The swirling embrace of hyperspace  
Snatching them away from death,  
Going to a hidden place  
To plan and catch their breath.  
So the story begins the dance anew,  
Listen, this lesson might be for you."_

He did not know where to go next. Any place he could think of, was most likely one his friends would think of, too. And he could not chance running into any of them, not even Ganner. Kyp sighed. Poor Ganner, he would understand, but there was no guarantee he would cover for him, if Skywalker decided to take action against him.

"That's a very beautiful ballad, Chii," Kyp said staring at the patterns of hyperspace outside the cockpit. "Do you know the whole story?"

"No," Chii shook her head sounding sad. "Chii not read all of story, and now story is far away."

"I will get a copy for you," the young Jedi said, apologetically and ruffled her hair. "I promise."

The girl smiled and nodded.

Which left only the question of their destination. Kyp began to browse through the star charts, trying to make a choice that would be most uncharacteristic for him. If that was even possible. Furrowing his brow he flipped through the systems. Maybe it didn't matter much, what they needed first now, was a disguise. A Jedi and a girl-droid would stick out like a sore thumb about everywhere.

"So, Chii," he suddenly had an idea, "where do you want to go?"

"Chii go where Kyp is," came the prompt answer.

"Well," Kyp tried again, "but what if I was any place you wanted?"

Chii considered for a moment and Kyp wondered if that had been such a good idea after all. He had not taught Chii anything about the galaxy, planets or maps, and as far as he knew, neither had anybody else. Maybe the only planets she knew about were Yavin and Coruscant, now that would be a fine choice.

"Nar Shadda," Chii's voice broke into his musings.

"What?"

"Nar Shadda," she repeated innocently. "Chii want to see what Nar Shadda is like."

The young Jedi didn't know what to say. The idea was crazy. Nar Shadda was one of the worst places in the galaxy to be, crime and violence abounded and with Chii tagging along, he would not survive five minutes, not to mention Chii. But still, there were few places better equipped to get new papers and a disguise.

"Okay, we'll go to Nar Shadda," he agreed. Before he could go on, he had to peel an enthused Chii from his neck. "Just tell me how you got this idea, will you?"

Sitting back in the co-pilot's chair Chii nodded. "Chii tell. Huntsmen go there, they find what they look for. We go there, we find, too."

It was a quirky kind of logic and Kyp was sure things did not work like that, but he didn't have the heart to tell Chii. The girl beamed at him as if she had just invented logical reasoning. "What were they looking for?" Curiosity got the better of Kyp.

"Sith."

"Oh, fine." Kyp didn't know what else to say. Looking for Sith was the last thing on his to-do list. "We're going to find disguises instead."

"Why?"

"You remember when Grandmaster Skywalker said to bring you back to your old owner?" Kyp asked. "Well, it is not really what I am doing," he went on when Chii nodded. "I want you to decided for yourself where you want to go and with who you want to be and what to do."

"Chii not remember 'owner', Chii not remember anything before Kyp," the girl sounded confused.

"That is because your memory was wiped.," Kyp tried to explain. "Everything you knew, and all you were has been destroyed. No matter what you did before, or who you knew before, it is now forever lost. And your owner might do that again."

"Chii not remember anything?" He tone was thoughtful. "Chii not remember Kyp?"

The young Jedi swallowed. "No, you would not. And if that is what you want," he added after some hesitation, "I will bring you to him."

The fact that Chii actually considered the option, made Kyp uneasy. Finally, the girl shook her head. "Chii want to remember," she stated. "Even if not all remembering is nice."

"That goes for all of us," the young Jedi replied, punching the data into the navcomp. "But you get used to is pretty easily." 


	18. Chapter 18

The moon of Nal Hutta hung in front of them like a huge piece of junk, jettisoned in space and then populated by the desperate. Lights shone up to them, though most were hazy though the smoggy atmosphere, and even from this far away, it had a sick look.

"Nar Shadda," Kyp announced. "I hope you still like it when we're down there, Chii."

The girl peered out of the canopy and for a moment Kyp wondered how it was to see a planet from space for the first time in your life, even if it was one as ugly as Nar Shadda.

"There are a few things we need to sort out before we land, though," he said. Going any place with Chii would have been - interesting, but Nar Shadda could be dangerous even if you were used to places like it.

"Chii listen!" The girl turned her attention back to him, and for a second Kyp was reminded painfully of that first day when she had been sitting in his room staring at him. But that was then, and this was now. He smiled.

It was just a little later, and Kyp was not smiling anymore. _Now this could have gone better_, he mused. The good news was that they had sold the ship, so if it was tracked, it would not lead to them anymore. But with Cii's helpful comments, the price had been bad. If you were in a desperate situation, you didn't show, especially not n places like Nal Hutta.

Kyp threw a glance at Chii, who sat next to him, dangling her legs and looking around as if there was nothing more wonderful to see than a derelict cantina. With her limited experiences, the young Jedi was not quite sure it wasn't. He also wondered if he should teach the girl how to lie.

"Don't you wanna spring your pretty girl a drink?" a gruff voice demanded.

When Kyp looked up, the bartender stared intently at him.

"I don't drink," Chii supplied brightly.

"Okay, okay," the young Jedi agreed at the same time. "Just giver her something without alcohol."

Satisfied, the bartender trudged off.

"But-"

"You don't have to drink it," Kyp said turning to Chii. A look at his grimy glass made him wish the same. "Just pretend." So here he was, teaching Chii how to lie. It didn't feel right somehow.

"Why?"

"Because in places like this," Kyp hesitated, "in places like this people often don't like to have droids around."

"Why?"

"Beats me," the Jedi replied, and immediately felt bed for the lie. He could think of a lot of reasons right from the top of his head why people might not want to have C-3PO around. The arrival of the drink saved him from further explanations, though. He picked it up.

"You take it, and put it to your lips like this," Chii's intense gaze burned on his chin. "You don't let any of the drink into your mouth, though, see? And then you swallow and put the glass down again." He showed the whole process once more. "Then it will look as if you drink."

Chii watched him for a few moments, a frown of concentration on her forehead. Finally she repeated his actions. "It is not right," she declared. "Chii not drink!"

"Sometimes we have to do things that are not right," Kyp tried to explain. "To make sure bad things don't happen to us or others."

Chii's forehead crinkled even more. "Chii not understand."

"That's fine," the Jedi assured. "It would be nice if nobody had to understand it. Right now, it is better if everybody here thinks you are just a human with strange ears."

"Kyp?" Her voice was worried. "What bad things happen, when people think, Chii not human?"

Carefully, Kyp put down his mug. "If they knew, they might try to steal you and then sell you, or make you do things. If they think you are a droid, they believe you have no rights. They will treat you like a thing."

"Chii has no rights? Like 3PO?"

Kyp didn't know what to reply. He had never wondered about 3PO as a person, nor about any other droid. Even though some showed distinct traits and even humour, he had never questioned their status as owned technology. He swallowed. "Yes," he agreed. "Like 3PO."

"Why Kyp treat Chii different?" The question was urgent, and the girl looked at him as if the answer mattered more than anything else.

"Because when we met, I could fel you in the Force. Like anybody else, I knew you were there." Kyp shrugged apologetically. "Maybe I have never felt 3PO because I didn't even try. That was wrong, but I knew you were a person the moment we met. I just knew it."

Relief and sadness mingled on Chii's face. "Chii is person?"

"Yes! And don't let anybody tell you anything else." Kyp laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Luke not think Chii is person," she said sadly.

"I don't know." Kyp found himself in the unlikely position to defend the Grandmaster of the order. "He has to follow the law, and that says you are not. If he doesn't follow the law, his whole Academy might get closed down. But he let us leave." He prayed that the latter ws just a tiny lie.

"Kyp not follow the law?" Chii was already a step further.

"Usually, I do," the young Jedi countered. "But in this case I don't. I will find a way to prove the law wrong. Then we can return to the Temple. If you want to."

The prospect of returning to Yavin brought a happy smile to Chii's lips. "Chii like go back. But Chii like being with Kyp more!"

"Just my luck," Kyp replied, ruffling her hair. "So now, let me think. we need money to buy another ship."

It didn't even occur to Kyp that he didn't consider tricking anybody out of his credits outright. He also would not have considered that a big change in his character. But that was as far from his mind, as using the dancing skills Ghent had programmed into Chii to earn some money. He actually thought about earning it himself. Until he had a very different idea. A mischievous grin spread over his face.

"Chii, we need to practice," he said and took her hand leading her out of the cantina.


	19. Chapter 19

"So is there none among you," Kyp shouted, "that is willing to take up the fight against this girl?"

Chii stood beside him, her hair tied around her head in an elaborate way to hide her ears. In the simple blue dress she looked very young and vulnerable. Her smile never left her lips. It had not taken long to explain the idea and rules to her. Now it all depended on whether she was found out a cyborg or not.

"A simple fight, no weapons, no strings attached," he went on. "If you win, there will be a thousand credits waiting."

The sum was modest, but anything more would make the game obvious. Kyp concentrated on keeping the heap of unconscious men behind the small stage uninteresting to the onlookers. So far they had earned four thousand credits. Just a bit more, and they were off the planet.

"What's the catch?" A burly man wanted to know.

"No catch," Kyp assured. He had made sure there were bets going on all over the place. He had secured a nice sum on Chii. "All I want is a small fee of one hundred credits. After all, medics don't come cheap." He winked and pointed at Chii again. "So, who dares to stand up against this veritable opponent?"

It was the oldest scam ever. But Kyp knew there was always somebody around who believed that luck was on his side, this time. People were like that. All you had to do was encourage them. This time it was a strong built Klatoonian. Kyp helped him up onto the stage adn introduced him to Chii.

The girl shook hands with her opponent and wished him good luck. That brought some chuckles from the crowd. The two faced each other, waiting for Kyp to give the signal to start. It had been easy to tell Chii how to fight. Her processors knew more about leverage and speed than Kyp. She was a natural talent at making it look real, too. By now, she even managed to make it look as if her opponent had a chance.

On the one hand, it felt good to know that they wouldn't have to go hungry anywhere, but it still made the young Jedi queasy that he had to hide Chii's true identity. Having droids fight against humans was inherently unfair.

The Klatoonian found himself pinned to the ground with a very effective lever. Kyp called Chii away and helped him up. "She is quite fast, is she not?" he suggested. "Quick like lightning, and never where you expect her to be."

The alien grumbled something unintelligible, but left without complaining too much. Being a Jedi did have advantages. "Do you want to have another fight?" Kyp asked Chii.

The girl looked thoughtful fro a moment, then she shook her head. "Opponents are not good," she explained. "Not good fighting."

Kyp didn't know if she just meant that the others were way below her or if the fact that they couldn't win made the fighting boring to Chii. "Okay, it's enough anyway." He took her hand. "Sorry, folks, but the lady is tired. No more fighting today."

He led Chii away, making sure they were not followed. "Wait here for a moment, don't go anywhere," he instructed Chii. As expected, Chii stood like rooted to the ground. Kyp ruffled her hair affectionately and went to collect his winning from the betting. Making himself unrecognisable, was easy. Collecting his money was easy, too. So easy that he decided to have an eye out for later trouble.

Chii stood exactly where he had left her, the traffic flowing around her as if she was a rock. Her unyielding attitude conflicted badly with her smiling face. "Chii not move," she greeted Kyp proudly.

"Very good," he replied. "Now we will go and buy a ship. Then we can leave this place."

"Chii like this place," the girl said to his surprise. "Many people, people nice to Chii."

Surprised, Kyp took the cards she handed him. Unsurprisingly, most were from owners of houses of very doubtful reputation. The women depicted on some showed clearly what kind of work was awaiting them. "We don't have time for this," Kyp evaded the topic.

"But Chii beautiful," the girl objected.

"Yes, you are, Chii. Very beautiful." Kyp took her hand. "Do you have to be beautiful to others, too, or would it be enough to be beautiful for me?"

She was definitely learning, because by now, Chii did not simply jump at him, she considered the question. "Chii not sure," she finally said. "Kyp speak true? Not pretend?"

"Of course not," Kyp said, feeling just a little bit guilty. "Everybody with eyes can see that you look amazing." It was not quite the same than admitting that she was beautiful, but if Chii noticed, she didn't show.

"Then Kyp is enough," she decided. "We buy ship now."

Relieved the young Jedi followed. "Let's try the Devaronian's shop first," he called, trying in vain to ignore the nagging though which insisted that Chii looked even better with her hair open.

* * *

The _Hotaru_ was a small ship and not resembling anything Kyp had envisioned himself owning. Slow, with few weapons and badly armoured it was designed to transport families on longer trips. Three rooms framed a huge galley with integrated eating space, each of them carpeted. And all rather derelict.

At least, the galley was big enough to accommodate both of them. Though Chii did not have to eat, she took a keen interest in the preparation of food. She watched the Jedi closely, asking an abundance of questions. Kyp had never spent so much conscious thought on defrosting and heating up a prefab meal. He had almost messed it up, too.

"How long you wait now?" Chii peered around his shoulder to look into the pot.

"Until it boils," Kyp replied. "Can you set the table?"

"Yes." Chii nodded and kept looking at the cold stew.

"Will you?" Kyp asked slightly irritated.

"No. Chii stir!" the girl declared and took the spoon from the Jedi's hand.

"Okay, I'll do it then," Kyp said. Since Chii had realised how much stronger than most people she was, this kind of incident had increased. From the corner of his eye, he watched the girl stir with methodical accuracy; her concentration was rather cute. Finally he found the dishes, but seeing the state they were in, the young Jedi immediately decided to eat directly from the pot.

"Kyp!"

The distress in Chii's voice made him drop the plate. It clattered to the ground unheeded as Kyp returned to the girl."What happened?"

"It jumped at me," Chii pointed the spoon accusingly at the stew. It went 'plop' again.

"Oh." Kyp took the spoon and stirred. "That is 'boiling', Chii. If something boils, bubbles form and burst when they surface."

Cautiously, Chii peered at the stew around Kyp. "Stew not dangerous," she stated.

"Right." Kyp decided the stew was good enough to eat and carried the pot to the table. Chii followed him, her eyes searching the table.

"Kyp not have plate," she exclaimed. "Kyp cannot eat!"

Somebody must have given her lessons in normalcy while he had not been looking, Kyp decided. "Um, it's fine, Chii," he tried to calm her. "The plates are all dirty, I didn't want to wash one up."

She still stared at him questioningly.

"You can eat right from the pot, too," Kyp insisted. "No problem."

Chii scrounged up her face in concentration. "Kyp lazy," she finally said, coming to a conclusion.

Phrased like that, Kyp didn't like the sound of it. He sat down, waiting for Chii to do the same. Then he remembered that the girl didn't need to eat. For a moment he wondered if she technically could, but knowing her inquisitive manner he refrained from asking. She would be rather interested in the process and the young Jedi didn't feel like explaining where the food went.

"How about you?" he asked instead. "Can you get energy from other sources than the sun, too?"

"Chi." She sat down opposite, pulled a cable from her left ear and plugged it into the nearest power socket. "Chii eat, too," she declared and happily closed her eyes.

Kyp watched her for a while before starting to eat as well. He had believed that the image of somebody plugged into a socket like that would creep him out, but he realised that it didn't bother him at all. The only worry he had, was how big a drain on the system she would be and how badly that would reflect on their chances to get somewhere in one piece.

He finished his meal in silence not wanting to disturb Chii who looked so obviously happy. Finally, he gently shook her shoulder. "Hey there. Time to get the beds ready."

Chii's eyes snapped open, their irises unnaturally big and dark. "Chii help!"

"Yes, just make sure to unplug before you go anywhere," he teased.

"Chii not stupid," came the huffy answer.

"I was joking," Kyp wanted to roll his eyes. Whenever he slipped into treating Chii like a human, something like this happened and showed him how big the difference still was.

"How do you know joking?" Chii wanted to know.

Kyp had to admit that he had no idea. You just did. It was - normal. "I must think about it," he conceded.

Chii nodded. "When will Kyp explain about lightsaber?"

"Uh." He didn't know what to say. He had hoped she might have forgotten about it, but considering that she was a droid the chance for that was really bad.

"Do you understand the difference between Jedi and other people?" Kyp asked back.

"Chi!" She nodded. "Jedi have Force, other people not have Force."

"The Force," Kyp began and stopped again. He had almost turned into a younger, though hopefully cooler, version of Grandmaster Skywalker. This was not good. "If you can use the Force, you can do things other people cannot do, move object with your mind or touch things with your thoughts, you are faster and see thing before they happen." He opened the door to her room. "A lightsaber is not a weapon that is effective if you cannot use the Force. So only Jedi build it."

Chii looked thoughtful. "Jedi not only about use Force," she said.

"No," Kyp agreed. "We are stronger than most, so we are expected to be more careful, too. And to help those who are weak."

"Do right things is Jedi," Chii replied. "Luke say that."

"Yes, he would," Kyp sighed. If that attitude had already rubbed of on the girl, he was not sure he would manage to save her. It was the most difficult thing, trying to save people from themselves. He approached the bunk and prodded the mattress. A small army of tiny fleas jumped at him eagerly. "I just hope fleas don't eat cyborgs," he sighed.

"What fleas normally eat?" Chii wanted to know. She prodded the matress herself, watching the tiny animals with fascination.

"Blood," Kyp replied. "I don't think they care much which kind of blood. But you don't have any, so I guess you're safe."

"Kyp not safe?" She tilted her head.

"I will be," he assured her. "I'll just try to kill as many of them as I can so they don't eat all of me."

"Kyp kill fleas?"

"Yep."

"But Kyp Jedi."

"And they're fleas."

"Yes!"

"Chii, I have no idea what you are aiming for," Kyp said.

"Chii aim for fleas," the girl said as if it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy. "Kyp Jedi, Jedi not kill."

Kyp stared. He didn't want to discuss the worth of life. Sentience was a slippery concept at best, especially when arguing with a droid, no matter how cute. He decided to try a different approach. "What am I to do then, Chii? Have myself eaten by those backbiters?"

"Save fleas," Chii nodded emphatically.

"And put them where?" Kyp wanted to know. "I can't -"

"Chii can." The girl almost bounced. "Chii get flea, Kyp save it."

He wanted to hit his head against the bulkhead. If that wasn't the most idiotic idea he had ever heard. "Great. Whatever."

It took some time to find something that closed tight enough to keep the fleas inside. Kyp crouched before his bunk, holding his arm over the mattress. Beside him, Chii stared at his hand, and with a sudden movement caught something out of the air too fast to see. After depositing the flea in his new home, she repeated the process.

Kyp was ready to drop into his bunk and sleep for three days when Chii finally declared his bed a safe place for him to be. He was just glad she didn't insist on feeding the little monsters.

"Now Kyp good Jedi sleep," she said smiling.

That almost made it worth the trouble.


End file.
